WWE fans weren’t always behind The New Day as a popular group and Big E has taken the time to reflect on it.

Big E recently spoke with the State Journal-Register to promote this Sunday’s WWE SmackDown live event in Springfield, IL at the Bank of Springfield Center and to talk about various topics including fans not initially buying the upbeat, positive characters that they portrayed on television.

“To me, obviously, what swung things was us finally embracing the fact that the crowd didn’t like us. … The first time we really cheated (in a match) was instrumental because instead of trying to go against the grain and be these good guys that people didn’t like or didn’t care for, we finally decided to cheat … and it ended up working out really well for us.”

He noted that the real change came from just being themselves on TV as there are sometimes where talents are saddled with an idea or a gimmick that doesn’t feel right but you have to make it work and once the reins were finally taken off and they were allowed to be themselves then they took more creative control which is when things took off for them.