EC3 Reveals It Was Vince McMahon's Idea For Him Not To Speak In WWE

Former WWE Superstar EC3 was on a recent episode of The Chris Van Vliet Show where they discussed what went wrong in his WWE run. One particular part of EC3's main roster run was the extended period where he did not speak, and he revealed who it was that decided that.

"Vince. Yeah, I don't know," EC3 admitted. "I would have thought somebody within would be like, 'You should'. I don't know. Maybe they wanted to see something else. Maybe they want to take away your best tool to make you rely on other things. At the same time, to rely on other things, you need to have them behind you to do it. It sucked."

EC3 addressed the idea of him being a "body guy" being a detriment in WWE. EC3 explains why being a body guy would work as a heel before explaining how he is "controlling his narrative" now.

"Maybe to an extent, but yeah, I don't know. That's not a bad way to look at it, because as a body guy, a body guy's more predominantly a heel," EC3 noted. "I was kind of a white meet babyface body guy and it wasn't going to work. Especially going in there against guys like Ambrose at the time, who's had an illustrious seven-eight year run being on top. The audience identifies with him. They've been with him since day one. They've seen him spite through battle all these things. Have great matches and he's supposed to portray the antagonist? Why would they want to boo a guy they know and love over some jacked up guy who can't speak?

"Yeah, it was just kind of a weird situation that sucked and maybe I could have done a better job fighting for myself. Maybe, I could have done something else or brought something else to the table immediately. I tried to pitch things, but regardless, it did not work. That's okay, because that set me up to do this now, which I kind of wanted to always do. I had the freedom to do so from the very beginning by myself before somebody else became involved. Control your narrative. I was able to tell my story through unfortunately, a world-changing pandemic, a job loss, economy crashing, millions of people getting sick and becoming unemployed. It sucks.

"Hopefully, we're at the tail end of it to be determined but using that real world to push an idea I had a while ago that I bleed and heavily revamp it. To have that idea be sought after as opposed to what I did in the past by both Impact and Ring of Honor was very encouraging. I've noticed it resonates with people in a different way, but my platform's only so big where I need to expand upon it via other platforms. Therefore, you add in other people that are now controlling part of that narrative. So, some of it will get lost in what you actually want to do, but at the same time, it's a creative battle and hopefully, the best answers win."

EC3 was released during the cost-cutting measures WWE made during the pandemic. The pandemic has halted a lot of action in pro wrestling, so EC3 was asked what would have happened to him if not for the pandemic.

"I was going to force their hand to do this," EC3 said. "The only thing that kept me there was the fact that I'm like, 'Oh man, there is a pandemic. My parents own a small business. My family might need it. I can't pass up money'. We don't know what the world is going to be like. You got to be careful about anything. Around that WrestleMania time, I was coming back from a pretty serious concussion that cost me about five or six months and really changed my life. Really made me think on this character because I felt everything I said for real during that time was kind of a case study in myself, creating then writing things I said in promos.

"I would have tried to force my hand doing this or doing something different. I pitched this idea too. I was typing it up. Real great thing and I included a promo with it. I sent it in on a Wednesday and two hours later, I got fired the day I sent in this magnificent pitch. So, the first thing was, 'Oh, I'm actually okay with this.

"This is fine. Don't worry about it. I'll be okay'. Then, I posted the pitch of the promo to the world. So, at least worst case, the only thing I didn't was people to think I sat around and did nothing because that's who I am, and I don't think anybody should do it. Whether you win or lose. As long as you tried. If you put everything to it, it's a success. You don't fail unless you quit, and I never quit."

EC3 also explained how he suffered the concussion back in late 2019. EC3 went through the whole process he went through when he suffered a concussion at a live event.

"It was a live event that caught the last one. We can start–it's kind of a three-pong story. One was Takeover: Brooklyn with Velveteen Dream, where I was DDT'd on a ramp and I don't remember anything until I woke up in a trainer's room and was staring at Michael Hayes's jacket. So, I don't remember the match, which sucks because that's a big platform. Maybe six weeks later, I got caught with a knee in the back of the head in an NXT match.

"I mean, that's the second one in two months now. While I was out, I got called up with the concussion and it felt weird, but anytime I've been injured, it wasn't how long until I'm healthy. It's always how long until I could be back, and I probably came back too soon but I was getting called up. I get called up with it. The run is what it is. I think a few months down the road, a live event match, I got caught with a luchador flying forearm or something. It's kind of knocked me silly, but I kept trying to work with it because I didn't think it was what it was.

"Take the test, and I'm concussed. Coming back through the protocol, I couldn't pass the test. It was very difficult. So, they actually had a physical therapist, which I'm very grateful for, to help you with sensory things."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The Chris Van Vliet Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.