Wrestling star EC3 was the latest guest on the ROHStrong podcast to talk about his Ring of Honor debut, and how he believes Raw Underground was inspired from one of his self-shot promos. Highlights can be found below.
How one of his self-shot promos seemingly “inspired” Raw Underground:
I knew it was going to be stolen, so I was prepared for it. I didn’t know it’d go to that length, and I know mine played to a minor bubble of the professional wrestling audience while majority of it saw whatever the hell they put out there. The way I look at it is kind of like I was Wayne’s World. I was producing this show in Aurora, my basement with my buddy Garth. We’ll call him J.C. in this instance, and then Rob Lowe came in, bought us and when I saw Shane McMahon in the ring, not in a real underground, mine was a real underground. [This] manufactured, heartless, desolate studio, I’m looking at Shane and it felt like when Noah was wrapping on Wayne’s World after they bought him out. It was just inauthentic and like I said, it had no heart. So I knew something would’ve been taken from it. I didn’t expect the whole aesthetic, and while it upset my friend, J.C. who I worked very hard on with it, at the same time, it’s just a challenge to do something different, better next time which I definitely plan on doing because again, control your narrative, again, Ring of Honor provides freedom. I’m not tied to doing just that. There’s things I want to do in the future and continue that narrative as sort of supplemental content to whatever other places I’m doing things in and I have bold, ambitious views for it. We’ll see if it works out, I think it will.
How he initially was going to ask for his release from WWE but changed his mind due to the pandemic:
Pandemic hit, this is post-WrestleMania and there was quote, plans to do something, allegedly, that were started but never saw the light of day, the WrestleMania after RAW. I remember leading up to that WrestleMania I was like, ‘If it wasn’t a pandemic, I was going to ask for a release.’ Whether I would’ve had it or not, I don’t know and it would’ve never been something where I would have forced their hand by taking to social media first. I was just going to have a conversation. The only thing that prevented me was the fact there was a pandemic and I’m like, ‘People are losing jobs, people are losing money. My parents own a restaurant, I might have to be a breadwinner. I can tough it out but I really don’t wanna be here’ and then I got a call and I wasn’t — I’m not gonna say exhilarated and exuberant. It was kind of like, ‘Okay, this is what I wanted, now what can I do?’ The only problem is the fact that it is a pandemic and our occupation is very based on performing in front of people and people aren’t coming, so there was some fear in that but I know I had 90 days to figure out what it is I want to do in this career as far as it continuing and other aspects in profession, in life so, I remember I was doing yoga, quarantined in our apartments.
On the phone call with WWE letting him go:
I got a phone call. I was watching it [yoga] on my phone. I got a phone call from one of my good friends, who was part of those releases, and then I just ignore him, I’m doing yoga and then five seconds later, I get a call from the office and was like, ‘Oh, we’re getting fired today, cool.’ So, have a conversation with him and he had a real tough day that day, having to let so many people go. Sounded like the office was chaos. I didn’t hold him responsible. I was like, ‘It’s okay, it’s fine. Everything is fine, it’s good, whatever. Thank you for everything, not bitter.’ Hang up. Now I remember the first time I was released, how it was piss, fire, brimstone, rage, every emotion that’s like anger-ridden. This time, I finished yoga and I was fine. It was okay. I was very much at peace I guess you can say.
Full interview can be found below. (H/T and transcribed by Post Wrestling)
