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What's the story?
EC3 recently spoke with SmackDown Live colour commentator Byron Saxton on WWE.com to discuss just who EC3 and the one percent mantra really mean.
Another thing they discussed in the interview was how things changed from when he was in NXT prior to transforming into EC3.
In case you didn't know...
EC3 made his professional wrestling debut in 2002 wrestling in the Ohio area. As Mike Hunter, he appeared on a 2003 edition of Sunday Night Heat where he lost to Rodney Mack. He would return to Heat three years later in a tag match losing to Viscera and Charlie Haas.
The heart of the matter...
As Derrick Bateman, EC3 had a fairly lengthy run with the WWE's developmental territories. He started off in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009 and made his NXT debut on season four when it was a competition series before being released in May 2013.
Byron would ask EC3 how things have changed since his departure in 2013. The main thing was that EC3 said that when he arrived in Philadelphia during Royal Rumble weekend, he knew who he was and that there was a victory in that.
He would further explain the quote below:
"I have been through professional and personal hells. In the past, I was misguided. I was happy I got to live my dream as my profession and be one of the boys. Enjoy time with friends and family, fall in love and show up every day with a smile on my face and a good attitude. I was satisfied with just working really hard, and if it’s not my time, well, we’ll get them next time! I was optimistic and lost. Now I take everything personally. This is a ruthless world, and one must be ruthless to cope with it. I do not have a dream; I have a vision. I do not seek happiness. I seek success. The only comfort I get in life is victory, after victory, after victory."
What's next?
EC3 makes his Full Sail television debut this Wednesday, May 9th on NXT. He will take on Raul Mendoza, a competitor who came from the Cruiserweight Classic.
Potentially we will learn who his first feud in NXT will be against headling towards NXT Takeover: Chicago on June 16th.
Author's take...
Sometimes professional wrestling is a strange journey. It doesn't work out the first try, but you keep trying and refining yourself and you end up in a much better place than when you were first with the company.
That's the story for EC3, and it's great to see that the WWE decided to keep the EC3 persona because it worked so well in Impact Wrestling.
