Ethan Carter III is one of the many talented wrestlers on the WWE roster that has floundered in recent months. These angles could correct the problem and build him back up.
There’s a growing narrative across WWE that a wide swath of the talent is growing unhappy with their creative direction. As names like Sasha Banks, Dean Ambrose, The Revival and others have reportedly vented about their use; that list could grow as there’s many men and women who are being wasted on a weekly basis.
A popular opinion across wrestling media and the social media space is that Ethan Carter III, also known as EC3, is an athlete that WWE creative is missing the boat on repeatedly. Since being called up to the main roster this past December, his use has been puzzling, if not outright infuriating.
At every pass, it seems like EC3 is placed in an embarrassing situation that undermines his abilities as a wrestler.
Thankfully, this situation can be corrected with careful booking across the board. Just like the others that are reportedly upset, or misused, creative direction can be corrected with a few key decisions.
After his initial run with the WWE, EC3 went on to other promotions, like TNA where he became a multiple-time champion, showing that he can hang with the top names in the industry. He has the look, talent and abilities to be a main event player on the Raw roster. These four suggestions can help book him back in that direction.
The New Stooge
Every authority figure needs a lacky of some sort. Vince McMahon had Patterson and Briscoe back in the days of the Attitude Era. Triple H and Stephanie had J&J Security when they were behind Seth Rollins during his heel championships run. The majority of the major heels that have come up during every era of professional wrestling have found a way to bring in a fall guy to hopefully deter their biggest foils.
There’s a storyline going on right now between Shane McMahon and The Miz that could potentially benefit from the inclusion of a new name in EC3, which would benefit all parties involved.
With The Miz attacking Shane on Monday after losing to him at WrestleMania, it’s clear that this storyline is far from over. Shane was originally the McMahon leader assigned to SmackDown, which has created a bit of confusion around whether he will appear on Raw, where The Miz is stationed post Superstar Shakeup.
Shane would need to designate someone on the Raw roster to continue to antagonize The Miz while he is away dealing with the business of being a McMahon. That is where EC3 comes in as the new opponent that The Miz must overcome as a face on Monday’s show.
A scenario in which EC3 and The Miz could trade barbs back and forth on live mics is something that everyone would enjoy. Neither one of these guys are lacking when it comes to talking on the mic, and they both have the perfect looks for the story that would be told.
Together they may not put on 5-star quality matches, but that is not always the biggest component to a successful angle. WWE Creative needs to find a way to get EC3 and The Miz in an angle together to show that Carter has the potential to be among the best.
The Prospect Killer
If you said that EC3’s calls up from NXT was mismanaged, that would be a massive understatement.
Months would pass before he was given the opportunity to talk, and he was barely featured on camera at all. A glimmer of hope would come when he defeated Dean Ambrose on the February 11 edition of Monday Night Raw, but nothing would happen after that; going right back to his marginalized status.
This situation should be the motivation for an angle that would see EC3 take his frustration out on the newest members of the Raw roster.
Since EC3’s main roster debut, there have been other debuts that have gone much better. Aleister Black and Ricochet are two men that have enjoyed prominent billing since coming up from NXT a few months after EC3. Even though they were unsuccessful each time, they had 3 title matches across WrestleMania 35 weekend.
All the while, EC3 was toyed with as a quick elimination in the Men’s Battle Royale on the pre-show.
With all three men being members of the Raw brand, it’s time to position EC3 as the proverbial welcoming wagon. He would attack both men and set the stage for singles matches – a tactic that would help establish Black and Ricochet as singles stars.
There’s also an opportunity to have him get some “help” from Bobby Roode, another man that had a strong NXT run but has been questionable on the main roster.
This would be a solid angle for all three men that would help end the tag team of Black and Ricochet while potentially pushing them into the mid-card at a time where that space is wide open.
A Moment of Bliss
There were a couple of moments in which Alexa Bliss and EC3 interacted on camera that singled to a potential storyline. This angle doesn’t need to look like the cringe-worthy affairs of the attitude era, but can be framed as a working relationship in which the two competitors assist each other in obtaining their final desire: WWE gold.
On one side would be Bliss; newly returning to the women’s division and hungry to regain her title. She would have the idea that she could “use” EC3 as a distraction for the other women on the roster; especially during matches to give her the advantage for the win.
Playing up the idea that she’s romantically interested in him, the bottom line would be that she’s attempting to manipulate him for her own gain; regardless of what the outcome would be for EC3.
On the other hand, EC3 would attempt to do close to the same. Bliss is a power player on Raw, and EC3’s goal would be to leverage her power to boost his own stock on the brand. He’d attempt to use flirting and doing her bidding, with the goal of getting close to the powers that be for his own opportunity.
Together, both would benefit from the partnership, until their lies and manipulation would be brought to light, costing them both big in light of their opponents.
Storylines involving men and women do not have to fall back on the same troupes and sexual innuendo from prior generations. EC3 and Alexa Bliss are both talented characters that play their role very well. It would be interesting to see them play off each other with the intention of getting the final swerve on one another; only to miss in the end; setting the angle in a new direction.
Making An Impact
In recent years, WWE has picked up talent from smaller organizations across professional wrestling. One organization that has seen a lot of their previous employees show up in a WWE ring is TNA/Impact Wrestling.
EC3 played the role of Dixie Carter’s nephew during his tenure with the company, and was one of the prominent members of that roster during said time. One way to help build his character within WWE would be to leverage that history in a storyline that involved not only EC3, but some other wrestlers that know the TNA/Impact business very well.
Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Bobby Roode, and Eric Young all reached prominence while they were a part of TNA/Impact. But each one of them have struggled in WWE; not reaching that same type of success.
WWE doesn’t leverage factions quite like times of the past, but there’s a group here that could infuse some interest with the addition of EC3. McIntyre, Lashley, Roode, Young, Rush and EC3 would be an intriguing group that can deliver on the microphone and in the ring.
Outside of The Shield, WWE Creative has struggled to get groups over with the fans, often feeding them to the biggest names at the time. But, as the focus on Raw has begun to shift post-WrestleMania, it would be interesting to see how a heel faction made up of former TNA/Impact champions would fair.
This isn’t the failed invasion angle of years past. Instead, it’s a group of men with a shared past looking to use each other to reach a higher plateau in WWE. The company is devoid of big-name heels, and this group would be a strong solution to that problem.