15 Exact Moments Wrestlers Died Inside
14. EC3's Fate Is Sealed
EC3 was one of those ultra-rare cases in the late 2010s, in that he was more likely to succeed on the main roster than NXT.
He debuted when Triple H's easy shortcut era had exposed itself. Triple H would sign a name creating buzz elsewhere, and simply flatter them with decent booking. This, one of the most basic creative practises imaginable, was a massively novelty for a few years because Vince McMahon had wilfully ignored it. By the time EC3 arrived, getting over was a bit more complicated. Fans were accustomed to the shock jump to WWE, and EC3 didn't fit in. He was good on the mic, but stiff and basic in the ring - very far removed from the TakeOver super-worker that had also become normalised.
One of the only wrestlers to stink the gaff out on a Saturday night - his Brooklyn 4 effort against the Velveteen Dream was interminable - EC3 was better suited to the long talking segments and broader in-ring storytelling of Monday Night Raw.
Or at least, he would have been, had he been allowed to talk. "Promoted" to the main roster in early 2019, his presentation was bizarre even by the standards of that absolute mess of a year. He was a guy who could only cut promos that didn't talk. What?
That's like taking Jerry Lawler's punch off him.
EC3 spent much of the year looking utterly dejected, aside from a weird one week deal where Michael Cole described him as a "lethal dose of toxic masculinity". Otherwise, EC3's character was "perennially miserable guy who knows his career is over" - as best captured when he was the only not enjoying the party in June.