The Era of EC3 is Upon Us!

[It's Damn Real!]

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here — EC3 is TNA World Heavyweight Champion! Officially official... since pretty much everyone saw the spoilers.

But man, what a match, and what a build for this guy. Angle was dead-on when he told TNA they were going to need to get the title on this guy sooner than later, and who better to put him over than Angle in the first place?

I said months ago he'd be idea because he'd mask a lot of the "you can't wrestle" flaws in EC3, but to be honest, he held his own just fine. Even if Angle carried most of the match, everything Carter added never felt second rate.

Just amazing. I almost need to ask... has TNA built anyone from the ground up this well, ever?

 

[Hem]

So much potential with this dude..I can't wait to see what happens next.
I just hope they don't drop the ball on him like they did with Roode/Storm/Magnus

 

[Lowdown]

As usual I'll have to look for the show on YouTube. I don't have a problem with this, but I fear this could end up like it did when Magnus was champ. EC3 could hold his own against just about anyone on the roster. Yet I can't help but wonder if every title defense is gonna end in a screw job. And how much longer will this undefeated streak last? It would be a shame if his title run would end up turning to shit by bad booking or creative decisions.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

What killed Magnus' run was that it took like eighteen roster members, plus Dixie Carter to have him even win it in the first place.

In the case of EC3, while he had Tyrus helping him along the way, and early in the match, Tyrus was tossed to the back, and EC3 won this match cleanly.

He's not going to have the same initial hurdle Magnus did.

 

[JJYanks121]

What killed Magnus' run was that it took like eighteen roster members, plus Dixie Carter to have him even win it in the first place.

In the case of EC3, while he had Tyrus helping him along the way, and early in the match, Tyrus was tossed to the back, and EC3 won this match cleanly.

He's not going to have the same initial hurdle Magnus did.

Also, people care about him and he has a character. Magnus had none of that. The kid is in great position. My hope is that you throw babyfaces like Galloway at him first so he gets some good wins, then maybe a Hardy to beat someone established and eventually you build up a babyface to take the title and the streak from him. Don't waste that moment on an already established guy.

 

[NSL]

AJ had a little bit of a career before coming to TNA, but I'd say that they did a great job of building him up. It could definitely be argued, also, that they didn't do anything, and it doesn't take anything to build a guy like AJ. They couldn't have held him back if they tried.

James Storm is another case, but considering how long it took, and that it came after the company was irrelevant certainly hurts.

 

[jpickens]

Hopefully he is allowed to have a good run and isn't fed to the first main roster flavor of the month you know Angle, Anderson, Hardy etc the first few weeks or month of his reign or worst drops the belt to Rockstar Spud.

 

[FreezeIzGAWD]

Okay am I the ONLY person who hates the undefeated wrestler wins the title thing. Maybe it's because I am older but GOD THAT MAKES EVERY MATCH INVOLVING THAT WRESTLER BORING AND PREDICTABLE.

I know it's stupid but back in the day you felt there was a chance that some wrestlers could be upset by another. Not anymore. You pretty much know the outcome of every match and feud MONTHS before it happens. The only recent surprise I had was KO beating Cena clean.

WOW!!!!

Anyway back to EC3. Great wrestler. Nice look and true heel. I think he will be champ for about 5 months then GET HIS FIRST OFFICIAL LOSS and lose his title.

I just think that angle has now been over used.

NO WRESTLER should be above a loss. It diminishes their runs do much

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

I'm actually surprise how over EC3 has become. The fans were into every minute of that match. I especially loved the dualing "he can't wrestle", "he's very good" chant. And even though half of the crowd was behind EC3, I enjoyed how the entire crowd booed when he won. I exspect his first couple title matches/feuds to be against guys like Mr. Anderson/Abyss/Matt Hardy to give him some "big name" wins under his championship reign and eventually move up to Lashley/Jeff/ and Roode.

TNA has finally build someone up to "star" creditability(the closest they've ever gotten was Roode). I hope that they learn from this EC3 experiment and use a similar formula on Bram. And maybe even try to re-push Magnus as a top face as before.

 

[Logisticalbooker86]

ECIII must be kept as far away from the impending invasion angle as possible. "ECIII is his own brand, I'm a 1 percenter".

Congratulations to the man who is the most entertaining champion in North America. To all the WWE fanboys making Derrick Bateman references, it is a shame you are too biased to recognize talent. I don't even watch TNA on a casual basis, but after seeing a couple Ethan Carter promos I knew the guy was a star.

This is the most interesting champion TNA has had since Bobby Roode, and they have gained at least one viewer while he is champion. For god's sake, keep him AWAY FROM THE INVASION.

As a side note, ECIII may have the catchiest theme in the business. Congrats ECIII, you didn't need the WWE machine to be a star. Very few wrestlers can say that.

 

[Messiah]

Unfortunately he's champion with TNA and it probably won't be around much longer and EC3 will be forced to work the indy's, which would be a shame after becoming somewhat of a star in TNA.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Fans for those of you thinking about switching your televisions over to our competition, don't bother, we understand that Ethan Carter III who wrestled here as Derrick Bateman is gonna win their world title, HA!! That'll put a lot of butts in the seats.

 

[Faaahn Daaahn Gooooo]

EC3 is a solid heel. hes also a rarity for tna as they are basically the ones that built him into what he is now. Angle v ec3 was an excellent match. hope ec3 gets a legitimate run with the belt.


and DONT involve him in the invasion smh

 

[Zeven_Zion]

Fans for those of you thinking about switching your televisions over to our competition, don't bother, we understand that Ethan Carter III who wrestled here as Derrick Bateman is gonna win their world title, HA!! That'll put a lot of butts in the seats.

It's funny when fans mock TNA for making "Derrick Bateman" into a Main Eventer, because Bateman was a joke in the WWE.

You realize this speaks bad for the WWE and great for TNA right? WWE had this guy on their roster, they didn't see his potential, they didn't see his talented, they wasted it and turned him into a joke.

Then TNA took that "joke" and built him up into a Main Event caliber wrestler in about a year, in front of a smaller audience and less resources.

This has happened with a lot of those ex-WWE guys. Happened with Pope, happened with Kazarian, happened with Taryn, happened with Lashley and many many more.

TNA takes them from the WWE, cleans the shit off them and then makes them into entertaining wrestlers.

WWE's the joke here, not EC3. He's very good.

 

[Tastycles]

It's funny when fans mock TNA for making "Derrick Bateman" into a Main Eventer, because Bateman was a joke in the WWE.

You realize this speaks bad for the WWE and great for TNA right? WWE had this guy on their roster, they didn't see his potential, they didn't see his talented, they wasted it and turned him into a joke.

Then TNA took that "joke" and built him up into a Main Event caliber wrestler in about a year, in front of a smaller audience and less resources.

This has happened with a lot of those ex-WWE guys. Happened with Pope, happened with Kazarian, happened with Taryn, happened with Lashley and many many more.

TNA takes them from the WWE, cleans the shit off them and then makes them into entertaining wrestlers.

WWE's the joke here, not EC3. He's very good.

To be fair, it was pretty clear what the guy was alluding to and you're either willfully missing the joke to make a counter argument to an argument that nobody is making, or it's just gone over your head this time.

However, you have opened an interesting discussion. Exactly how successful you think Kazarian and Burke have been in TNA is open for discussion, and I don't really think Lashley, who the WWE were clearly about to push to the moon when he quit, counts either. Tiffany was a joke in WWE though and looked alright when I saw her on the 40 minutes of programming that I have seen of TNA in the last 2 or 3 years.

I've never seen EC3 wrestle, either as his current gimmick or as Bateman, but someone who was a total loser on WWE being built into a top guy for TNA is something to be lauded, definitely. TNA should have always looked at talents like this - there's lots that fall through the cracks at the bottom that are ultimately unproven. A guy who doesn't quite make it on NXT (or ECW/Velocity or whatever in the case of Burke and Kaz) through lack of opportunity may ultimately have something to offer. A guy who has been on the main roster at WWE for a long time and never really achieved anything is someone they should have been steering clear of, and I think possibly due to financial constraints, they've finally learned their lesson on that front.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I've never seen EC3 wrestle, either as his current gimmick or as Bateman, but someone who was a total loser on WWE being built into a top guy for TNA is something to be lauded, definitely. TNA should have always looked at talents like this - there's lots that fall through the cracks at the bottom that are ultimately unproven. A guy who doesn't quite make it on NXT (or ECW/Velocity or whatever in the case of Burke and Kaz) through lack of opportunity may ultimately have something to offer.

This is exactly right. TNA have taken someone who probably wouldn't ever have amounted to much in WWE and made him into a legitimate star, who's now able to show how much talent he has, I think that's great. Why anyone would laugh at TNA for this is bizarre. That would be like WWE being mocked for making "Terra Ryzing", "Stunning Steve", "Mean Mark Callous" or "Sexton Hardcastle" into World Champions and proper stars. That's something to be applauded, not mocked.

I think EC3 is great. I've liked the fact TNA didn't rush and stick the belt on him too soon, when they easily could have in the desperation of making a home-grown star. They've taken their time with him, and he's grown as a performer and character ever since he debuted- and I thought he was pretty good to begin with! The whole persona and character fits, and I'm looking forward to see what he can do as a World Champion and who they'll book him against.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

It's funny when fans mock TNA for making "Derrick Bateman" into a Main Eventer, because Bateman was a joke in the WWE.

You realize this speaks bad for the WWE and great for TNA right? WWE had this guy on their roster, they didn't see his potential, they didn't see his talented, they wasted it and turned him into a joke.

Then TNA took that "joke" and built him up into a Main Event caliber wrestler in about a year, in front of a smaller audience and less resources.

This has happened with a lot of those ex-WWE guys. Happened with Pope, happened with Kazarian, happened with Taryn, happened with Lashley and many many more.

TNA takes them from the WWE, cleans the shit off them and then makes them into entertaining wrestlers.

WWE's the joke here, not EC3. He's very good.

You missed his point, I think.

The entire line he posted was a redux of Tony Shiavonne's famous WCW spoiling of Mick Foley winning the WWE championship years ago.

A spoiling that back-fired big time. They mentioned it on WCW air to take a shot at a pre-recorded RAW, yet when they mentioned it, all the ratings went to WWE, because people cared to see it happen.

I could be reading the tea leaves way wrong here, but it read to me like a new-era version of that. "EC3 is champ!? Yeah, that'll get people to care!" Only for people to care.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

This is exactly right. TNA have taken someone who probably wouldn't ever have amounted to much in WWE and made him into a legitimate star, who's now able to show how much talent he has, I think that's great. Why anyone would laugh at TNA for this is bizarre. That would be like WWE being mocked for making "Terra Ryzing", "Stunning Steve", "Mean Mark Callous" or "Sexton Hardcastle" into World Champions and proper stars. That's something to be applauded, not mocked.

I think EC3 is great. I've liked the fact TNA didn't rush and stick the belt on him too soon, when they easily could have in the desperation of making a home-grown star. They've taken their time with him, and he's grown as a performer and character ever since he debuted- and I thought he was pretty good to begin with! The whole persona and character fits, and I'm looking forward to see what he can do as a World Champion and who they'll book him against.

Except you and I both know we don't live in this world. WWE is a legacy brand that has its own army of devotees that often go to great length to insult things that don't operate under its umbrella — specifically the success of anyone who has left their company.

That whole "WWE rejects" thing I've been at war with for what feels like a decade.

And the hypocrisy is always rife. "Derick Bateman" wins the TNA world title? What a joke. What is TNA anyway? Who cares? Yawn.

"Samoa Joe" comes to WWE? Oh shit! World-breaker, baby! Get this guy on the main roster and feuding with whoever is top dog these days! WWE is amazing!

And that's generally true of all cases like these. It's a perception and mindset TNA just hasn't seemed to have gotten past. Ever.

But I get it. I know why. They spent years picking up every loose scrap available, many of whom only damaged their company and dejected the aspects of their roster that they were actually building up as homegrown. The infamous Joe promo ripping "superstars" live on PPV comes to mind.

I've always said that talent is talent regardless of where it comes from, but I do think there's a balance to the mixture. You can't have a roster comprised of like 85% WWE fired talent, just because it's available. That's something TNA learned over the last few years, and have really gone to great length in reproaching in the last two years specifically.

"Derick Bateman" was never anything with WWE. For all intents and purposes he's a TNA homegrown star now as EC3. Eric Young. Bobby Roode. James Storm. Magnus. Bram (another nothing with WWE). Hernandez. Robbie E. Jessie. There's a lot of young talent here who are being groomed as being made BY TNA, for TNA. And they're complimented well by guys who you probably still associate with WWE (at least in part) like Angle (even though he's been with TNA longer than WWE at this point), Lashley, Hardy, Anderson, etc.

 

[AdamJumba]

EC3 is to TNA what Goldberg was to WCW.

However, whenever Goldberg became the top guy in 99, it took less than two years before the company died out. Let's hope the same thing don't happen.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Fans for those of you thinking about switching your televisions over to our competition, don't bother, we understand that Ethan Carter III who wrestled here as Derrick Bateman is gonna win their world title, HA!! That'll put a lot of butts in the seats.

Just to be clear, I tuned in to see Mick Foley win the WWE Championship Title Belt...and I tuned in to see Ethan Carter III win the TNA Championship Title Belt. His promo the week before is what really sold me on EC3.

“Standing before him is the greatest wrestler who has ever lived. Kurt Angle you are the best because you have beaten the best. You have beaten Heartbreak Kids and Texas Rattlesnakes. You have beaten Cerebral Assassins, and Electrifying men. You have beaten Next Big Things, Ayatollahs, Nature Boys, and Superstars who are Rated R. Kurt, you have beaten Dead Men, Immortals, and hell *does the you can't see me gesture* guys who can't even see. You have beaten Submission Machines, Phenomenal Ones, Charismatic Enigmas, Icons, and Kings of Mountains. But Kurt Angle, what do they have in common? They have been beaten. I haven't. And Kurt Angle, you can't beat me…”

 

[Logisticalbooker86]

King Patrick: Thank you for posting that promo. Even reading it gave me chills. IDR said it, talent is talent.

Side note everybody - I've never understood the urge to be a fanboy as it relates to any one wrestling company. It is ass backwards and illogical.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Just to be clear, I tuned in to see Mick Foley win the WWE Championship Title Belt...and I tuned in to see Ethan Carter III win the TNA Championship Title Belt. His promo the week before is what really sold me on EC3.

“Standing before him is the greatest wrestler who has ever lived. Kurt Angle you are the best because you have beaten the best. You have beaten Heartbreak Kids and Texas Rattlesnakes. You have beaten Cerebral Assassins, and Electrifying men. You have beaten Next Big Things, Ayatollahs, Nature Boys, and Superstars who are Rated R. Kurt, you have beaten Dead Men, Immortals, and hell *does the you can't see me gesture* guys who can't even see. You have beaten Submission Machines, Phenomenal Ones, Charismatic Enigmas, Icons, and Kings of Mountains. But Kurt Angle, what do they have in common? They have been beaten. I haven't. And Kurt Angle, you can't beat me…”

Agreed. Seeing it in writing again... man, what an amazing promo.

King Patrick: Thank you for posting that promo. Even reading it gave me chills. IDR said it, talent is talent.

Side note everybody - I've never understood the urge to be a fanboy as it relates to any one wrestling company. It is ass backwards and illogical.

Well yes, talent is talent, but you do have to be mindful of perception as well. Because while talent is talent, perception is reality. If the perception is you are the type of person who can't cook for themselves and only feeds out of trash cans, the reality is people won't think highly of you.

That's a problem TNA has had for a long time. They've come a long way in remedying it in recent years, but have absolutely been guilty of hot-shotting talent in their company who've had success in WWE. Even those who didn't, or had little.

RVD beating AJ Styles still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of fans because of what it represented. This guy who probably didn't even know the name of the company he was in, coming in, being paid big money, and going over "our" guy. The guy who was here from basically day one, whose busted his ass to make this company mean something. Because the guys in charge think there's more money in RVD than there is in AJ Styles.

And that kind of thinking got them in a lot of hot water. It's lost them a lot of talent. It's put them in the position they're in today. Because while talent is talent, how you use it absolutely matters.

As to the fanboy of one company thing, I can't really speak to it. I'm one of them. Just not for the same company most people are for. I've always been a fan of under dogs.

 

[Logisticalbooker86]

I believe I misspoke, I understand there are fanboys in every type of business.

However, I cannot understand why anyone would root for the failure of any wrestling company, especially in the U.S. As an industry, wrestling needs competition and all the men and women involved need a place to work.

Your point brings about the one issue that has yet to be discussed in this thread. Did the rise of ECIII come at a point that was too little too late for TNA? I sure as hell hope not, as he is one of the most entertaining people in the industry.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Well, on that we agree. Actively rooting for the demise of any company is, in effect, you actively rooting for dozens of people to lose their livelihoods. Liking a product or disliking a product is fine. Actively rooting for it to go under damns dozens of hard-working people who have nothing to do with the decision-making that goes on higher up the rungs on the ladder.

It's like hoping Wal-mart goes out of business because you like Target and hate Carl McMillon. Even if you do like Target and hate McMilon, why root for the entire company to go under? Why hope all those people stocking shelves and ringing registers don't have a place to work tomorrow? All because you don't like what they sell or who owns the company?

As to the EC3 too little too late? Maybe. We won't really know until whatever happens happens. For me, I'm just going with the flow. TNA is my brand and I'll go down with the ship if need be. I hope it doesn't happen, but these are things utterly outside my control, so there's no use in me getting upset over them.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

EC3 is amazing and well deserving of the title. If he drops the title to Spud or Grado then im not watching TNA again ever. Spud, Mandrews and Grado are garbage and don't deserve to be on TNA's main roster. Heck, I wouldn't want to see that trash even on ROH's crappy roster.