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He says he is in the top 1% of WWE. He certainly does not seem like it, considering the way he's been booked on TV. This week on RAW, EC3 stood in the path of a monster among men and was destroyed almost at once. It was a pitiful sight for anyone that's been a fan of his.
In this article, let me try and make sense of why EC3 is being booked in this strange role. He began as a mute when he was first called up, and now he's just a body that's tossed around by Braun Strowman. What caused Vince McMahon to lose faith in the man so quickly?
Do you think there's any hope for EC3 to bounce back from the damage that has been done? Or will he be lost in mid-card purgatory?
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For his sake and as a fan of his work, I hope he does bounce back...
#5 EC3 was called up from NXT way too soon
There's been a whole bunch of superstars who've been called up from NXT recently. Aleister Black and Ricochet are the obvious standouts as they've been dominant during all their matches. I suppose it does seem like Lars Sullivan is also being given a big push in the main roster.
But at the same time, teams like Heavy Machinery and performers like Nikki Cross haven't really been featured at all in the main roster thus far. And honestly, I think that this is a shame because of how much potential both acts have. And EC3 is yet another individual who probably got called up before being given a proper run in NXT.
The audience never got a chance to connect with the sports entertainer. Is it any wonder that the audience does not care about him.
#4 Braun Strowman needed to regain his momentum
To have someone who looks like Braun Strowman and not have him appear on the main show of WrestleMania is an injustice to the big man. While Braun Strowman did win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, I must say that it did nothing for him at all. If anything, it knocked him down a peg from where he used to be.
And this is why I think that EC3 was just the unfortunate man from the back who was picked to bear the brunt of The Monster Among Men on this given night. Strowman needs to be rebuilt as a monster. In the quest to get more eyes on the product by using comedians, WWE turned their Monster into a joke.
So maybe the fact that EC3 got destroyed had nothing to do with him at all. He could have just been an unfortunate choice as enhancement talent.
#3 EC3 has been outshined by other recent hires
I don't think the WWE roster has ever been as loaded as it currently is right now. When you can't have Kevin Owens perform at WrestleMania, you know that you have the problem of hiring way too many stars.
In fact, I would say that this is one of the reasons why there is such an element of dissatisfaction across the company at this point. So many sports entertainers are unhappy because the roster is so loaded and there are only limited spots for the men and women to truly showcase their potential.
EC3 is neither an independent darling nor is he a giant who will stand out from the crop. He is far from vanilla but in a roster filled with so much talent, there's the chance that he will get lost.
And from the looks of it, he's certainly gotten lost in the mix!
#2 Continuing the Braun and Alexa storyline?
Maybe I'm giving WWE Creative far too much credit with this angle, but this is certainly a possibility. Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss teamed up during the Mixed Match Challenge, in a team that everyone fell in love with almost instantaneously. During the course of the tournament, a potential romance was also teased between the awesome twosome.
And then fast forward to a Moment of Bliss on WWE RAW, where EC3 was the special guest. Alexa Bliss and EC3 teased a budding romance too, and that could be the reason that Braun Strowman is so incensed. It could be the reason why he obliterated EC3 on RAW this week (read results here).
Of course, I could always be overthinking things and I possibly am. WWE has not really been known for tying their loose ends on the main roster, and so if this is the storyline they're going ahead with, I am quite glad.
#1 No character, no plans
Consider EC3 while he was in NXT. He was the personification of his gimmick, living the 'Top 1%' lifestyle. And then he was called up to the main roster, and with all due respect to those in WWE Creative, he was ruined. He was portrayed as someone who could not talk when he's a fantastic promo.
Then, he suddenly started speaking again but to no avail, because he was never given the right amount of mic time. All that we know of his character thus far is that he likes to check himself out in the mirror every week. They did the talk show segment with Alexa Bliss that really went nowhere.
Is it any wonder then that WWE started looking at him as enhancement talent? If you do not have a fully-fleshed out character, that is essentially what you become.
Hence, he was squashed by Braun Strowman.
