The National Wrestling Alliance has a new flag-bearer. One year after making his debut in the NWA, EC3 defeated Tyrus to become the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion at NWA 75th Anniversary Show. This victory marked EC3’s first world title victory for a major promotion since his second reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion in 2016. Since his victory, EC3 has taken it upon himself to steer the NWA ship so to speak, as he has fully embraced the leadership responsibilities and “face of the company” aspects that come with being NWA Worlds Champion, and his schedule exemplifies it.
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Thursday: wrestle for Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky. Friday: fly to New York for business. Saturday: defend the NWA Worlds Title in New Jersey. Sunday: defend the NWA Worlds Title against Pat Buck. Monday: fly to Philadelphia to get stem cell treatment.
“I can maybe do less, but I choose to take on more,” EC3 told ComicBook.com.
EC3 has always had a grinder’s mindset, a one percent mentality if you will, but it’s been especially heightened by NWA Samhain.
“It’s my first pay-per-view as the champion. It’s in my hometown. I need to make sure that building is at full capacity,” EC3 said. “I need to make sure that show delivers because my name is on the line. My reputation as champion is on the line. The company is in this upswing, this gigantic ball of momentum we have going partly due to me, but also partly due to the shrewd business moves of [NWA owner] Billy Corgan is rolling down the hill. We have to deliver because we cannot rest. That success can be killer if you just stay with it. Once something happens, you have to keep going forward. For that reason, I don’t sleep, and that’s okay.”
Beyond taking place in his backyard of Cleveland, NWA Samhain is familiar territory for EC3 due to the man challenging him: Thom Latimer.
“Even coming into the NWA, [Thom] was the guy I picked to work with because that’s the guy I’ve seen throughout my career,” EC3 said. “From FCW to Impact to NWA. Thom Latimer is one of the absolute best wrestlers in the world, but he doesn’t get the notoriety or the credits or the accolades from the internet-based community. Granted, he’s had a lot of public mistakes, but he’s atoned for them and he’s redeemed himself. If you’re creating a prototypical professional wrestler, it’s going to be Thom Latimer. As a polarity to him, I’m the one that has to beat him.”
EC3 and Thom Latimer have faced each other five times before, yet neither man has a true decisive victory over the other. These two have fought to a no contest, time limit draw, and a double disqualification. EC3 got a pinfall victory over Latimer earlier this year, but did so with a low blow.
All of their prior matches pitted Latimer against a dark and sinister version of EC3, the goatee-clad iteration that was bent on getting his opponents to “control their narratives.” This time around, Latimer stands opposite a new EC3: The Overman.
“It was a year in the making in my mind,” EC3 said of his recent persona shift. “One thing I think is super important, one thing a lot of wrestlers lack, is timing. We lack timing within our matches. We lack timing within our storytelling. If I’m going to make this drastic change, it has to be the right place, the right time, the right moment.
“Right place, right time was NWA 75. This has been inside me for a very long time though. I like the challenge of doing something new and unique. ‘Hey, why don’t you just be the top one percent again?’ Why? I’ve done that. I’m not the same person as I was five years ago. It’s easy to fall into the complacency of the past, cash a check, do business as usual, give the people what they want. My vision and my idea of creativity is that true creativity isn’t giving people what they want. It’s giving people what they didn’t know they needed. I think The Overman’s needed.”
NWA Samhain goes down on Saturday, October 28th and streams on FITE TV.
