10 Wild Creative Pitches Wrestlers Made To Get Into WWE
3. EC3 Wants To Be John Cena
Yes, EC3 was actually signed to WWE when he made the following pitch in early 2019, but just barely.
His stock was low, having failed on a TakeOver stage so carefully produced that it was meant to make failure impossible, and his main roster call-up scanned as total desperation. He wasn't promoted as a new potential game-changer but rather "Another act from NXT!"
He didn't talk - trust Vince McMahon to ignore a performer's best attribute - and went 50/50 with Dean Ambrose in a short, mind-scrambling TV programme. He played babyface, and since it was untenable - fans wanted Ambrose to stay, and got behind him - he turned with no explanation seven days later. Michael Cole hurriedly explained the change by mentioning that he'd talked to EC3 earlier that day who had disclosed that he was a "lethal dose of toxic masculinity". He might have just been going through the show notes with Vince, in fairness.
When recounting this strange period on Talk Is Jericho, it was then that EC3 had the idea - to stay in WWE, as it transpired - to play a babyface with no idea that fans despised him. Like John Cena, only on purpose. WWE had tried something similar with Bo Dallas, which didn't really take.
Kurt Angle had already perfected the bit, and every iteration thereafter drew an unflattering comparison.