8 Key Victories In 2019 That WWE Never Followed Up On
3. EC3 Beats Dean Ambrose (Raw, February 4)
EC3 appeared to have a pretty high ceiling upon his arrival on WWE's main roster coming into 2019.
Although he came out on the losing end of his feuds with Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream and Lars Sullivan in NXT, The Top One Percenter always seemed destined for big things on the grand stage based off his look, mic skills and overall presence. The vignettes WWE aired leading up to his anticipated debut didn't give us any insight on what he was all about, but fans remained hopeful that they'd eventually strap the rocket to him.
EC3 stayed silent for his first month on the main roster and was largely relegated to making pointless cameos backstage before finally stepping up to face Dean Ambrose on the February 11 episode of Raw. It wasn't anything special, and although Ambrose had one foot out the door by that point, at least EC3 could say he beat a former WWE champion in his debut match.
The reaction he received from the victory was lukewarm, likely because the masses realized it was WWE's way of lessening Ambrose's appeal ahead of his exit. Ambrose himself said in a tell-all podcast with Chris Jericho months later that Vince McMahon essentially soured on EC3 that night and that was the peak of his push.
The follow-up? Ambrose avenging his loss to EC3 the very next week and EC3 proceeding to lose every match he's had since.