Report: Vince McMahon Gave up on Pushing EC3

When Ethan Carter III re-signed with WWE back in early 2018, his fans were certain that he'd [...]

When Ethan Carter III re-signed with WWE back in early 2018, his fans were certain that he'd become a bonafide star on WWE's main roster. The man formerly known as Derrick Bateman had reinvented himself since initially leaving the company back in 2013, improving his physique and mastering a cocky heel persona known as EC3 while in Impact Wrestling. To top things off he showed plenty of promise during his NXT run, feuding with Velveteen Dream, Lars Sullivan and The Undisputed Era. Finally he made the jump to the Raw roster in early 2019, but things quickly fell off the rails.

Despite being known for his excellent promo work, Carter was kept from speaking for several weeks. He picked up a couple of wins on television, most notably against Dean Ambrose (who was already on his way out of the company), but the push quickly fizzled out and he was push towards the bottom of the card. After testing out a reunion between himself and Drake Maverick in a dark match, Carter was relegated to appearing in 24/7 Championship segments where he and other wrestlers would chase R-Truth around the arena.

According to Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, Vince McMahon "gave up" on trying to give EC3 a push after he didn't like the Maverick pairing during a SmackDown dark match.

"I think that Vince gave up on EC3 real fast and I don't think they... You know they did a tryout with EC3 in April putting him together with Drake Maverick like they were in TNA and Vince hated that too so I don't think this is a Paul [Heyman's] call [to not book him.]," Meltzer said on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio.

There's no official word on how much time EC3 has left on his current WWE contract, or if he plans on leaving anytime soon.

WWE's next pay-per-view, the Royal Rumble, takes place on Jan. 26 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. Check out the full card so far in the list below.

Check out the full rundown for the show below.

  • WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan
  • Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch vs. Asuka
  • King Corbin vs. Roman Reigns
  • Men's Royal Rumble Match (Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, Erick Rowan, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Elias, King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Otis, Tucker, Rusev, Bobby Lashley, Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy, TBA)
  • Women's Royal Rumble Match (Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Sarah Logan, TBA)
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