5 most likely first opponents for EC3 in NXT

January was a big signing month for WWE- they picked up Candice LeRae (who seamlessly entered the Johnny Gargano/Andrade "Cien" Almas storyline, by the way), War Machine, and even Ricochet. But perhaps the biggest signing of all was that of EC3.

EC3 began his WWE career in 2009, as a bland-yet-promising babyface called Derrick Bateman. While he was never given anything particularly interesting to do, he had a good look and carried himself well. When he signed on with TNA following his WWE release in 2013, he developed into one of the more compelling characters in professional wrestling.

For nearly five years, Ethan Carter III was a bonafide "top guy" for TNA, winning the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice and the Impact Grand Championship once. Meanwhile, WWE fans were hankering to see the once-vanilla superstar join the already-stacked NXT roster. Luckily, their prayers were answered on January 27th, when it was confirmed that EC3 was back with WWE, surprisingly maintaining the name he used in TNA Impact.

...so now what?

Well, as I said before, the NXT roster is absolutely stacked right now, perhaps more so than ever. As such, there are plenty of directions that they can go in. Here are five potential superstars, in no particular order, that I think EC3 could face upon his debut.

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#5 Drew McIntyre

This could be a solid feud for Drew when he returns

Now, of all the options I'm about to go over, this one is probably the least likely, as I think that Drew McIntyre will re-enter the NXT Championship picture upon his return. Nevertheless, it's still a possibility.

For those who don't know, EC3's first ever match in WWE developmental was in 2009, against none other than Drew McIntyre. Of course, it was McIntyre who came out victorious, as EC3 (wrestling under his real name at the time) was yet to be established. If WWE wants to dig that deeply, perhaps they could weave that into the narrative.

Otherwise, maybe we can see a McIntyre return and an EC3 debut in the same night. Drew could come out, give his spiel about how he's owed a Championship match, then out comes EC3 to say something on the lines of, "well you're going to have to get through me because I'm going straight to the top". Simple, yet effective.

Or, if they want to be super meta, they can build a storyline about how both of them were underutilized in their initial WWE runs, but they both want to prove that they belong there. Or maybe they could talk about how they feuded "elsewhere," but they want to beat each other on a grander stage.

Whatever they choose to do, I think that feuding with McIntyre would be a good start for EC3.

#4 Velveteen Dream

Why not put EC3 up against one of NXT's most entertaining acts?

This pick is less based upon common-sense booking and more based on trends.

What I mean by that is- there really isn't a feasible reason for EC3 to want to take on Velveteen Dream. However, Velveteen Dream seems to be adopting the role of the Tyler Breezes and Tye Dillingers before him- the entertaining mid-card act that faces upcoming talent and loses.

Still, Dream could be an effective first opponent for EC3.

I mean, look at what Dream was able to do with Aleister Black- yes, we all knew that he was going to lose the feud, but it was still engaging and the two worked excellently together. It was all based on getting Black to say the man's name. Then, he feuded with Kassius Ohno and based it upon the notion that he could knock Ohno down within 30 seconds. Again, it was fun.

So it would be interesting to see what absurd premise Velveteen Dream would build a feud with EC3 upon. Plus, he could help Dream develop his already-fantastic heel work.

#3 Andrade "Cien" Almas

Perhaps EC3 will enter himself right into the NXT Championship picture...

The story of Andrade "Cien" Almas in NXT has been nothing short of incredible, going from a white-meat jobber-to-the-stars to quite possibly the most valuable performer on the yellow brand.

So perhaps EC3 would like to begin his NXT career by taking the "top guy" down.

To me, when EC3 was the last one to be introduced at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, it implied that he was the "biggest signing" to be revealed that night. It suggested that WWE sees EC3 as a top-level talent that could be thrust into the NXT Championship picture right away.

If this is so, there are two ways that they could do this - they could have Almas lose the NXT Championship to Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, only to have his revenge plan intercepted by a debuting EC3...or, they could have Almas retain against Black and assign EC3 as his next challenge. Personally, I think that the latter of these is more likely, but both are still possible.

Sure, Almas' last feud in NXT will probably be with Aleister Black, but then again, maybe not.

#2 Kassius Ohno

Kassius Ohno has been fairly effective at helping establish new stars in NXT

Much like Velveteen Dream, Kassius Ohno has lately been used to put over newer, fresher talents in NXT. Over the past few months, Ohno has done the "three-second tan" for both Dream and Lars Sullivan...so why not EC3?

Sadly, the match would likely be an arbitrarily-thrown-together affair meant solely to be EC3's first match and nothing else. I strongly doubt that he would see any reason to feud with Ohno; he's clearly aiming for the top of the card.

They should use Kassius Ohno as much as the next guy, but he's far too lost in the shuffle at this juncture. Still, even though it's a foregone conclusion that Ohno would lose, he would make EC3 look terrific in his debut.

#1 Aleister Black

This feud could work whether Aleister Black is NXT Champion or not

As stated before, EC3 is aiming for the top of the card, and Aleister Black is about to become "the guy to beat" in NXT.

The former Tommy End has been dominating NXT since his debut in 2017, and he is almost definitely going to be the man to dethrone Andrade "Cien" Almas when the two square off at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans in April. While Almas moves up to the main roster, Black will finally assume his role as the face of NXT... then out comes EC3 to crash the celebration.

This would establish him as both a heel and a main event player right away.