10 Times WWE Completely Abandoned Their Talent

2. EC3

Dean Ambrose EC3
WWE

So literal and so much sadder for it, EC3 has actually been abandoned by WWE in more than just a creative sense.

Until January 25th 2020, WWE had the trademark to the name the former Derrick Bateman had debuted in Impact Wrestling, but they simply ignored a notice from the prior July after an original request had been refused. Wise to his impending doom within the organisation, EC3 had filed before them in April.

They'll get another go at it at a later date, but why would they at this point?

A turgid main roster run for the character has done more damage than him not even signing for the biggest wrestling company in the world in the first place. He wasn't the best of fits on NXT during his 12 month stay on the black-and-gold brand, but it still protected the integrity of a Sports Entertainment-adjacent character he'd worked hard at getting over in his time away from the organisation. This move should have been the right one, rather than one of the lowkey worst NXT-to-main roster call-ups of the lot.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett