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EC3 believes WWE’s “really bad ratings” led to a sudden round of call-ups from NXT in December 2018.
Lacey Evans, Lars Sullivan, Nikki Cross, Otis, and Tucker joined the main roster along with EC3 around a time when ratings were declining. All six superstars were allowed to appear on both RAW and SmackDown before they were assigned to specific brands after WrestleMania 35.
On Sportskeeda’s “The Wrestling Outlaws” show, EC3 explained how former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had no interest in NXT:
“Zero. I think the only thing Vince had power [over] was, ‘Hey, we need some fresh bodies because these numbers are down,’ or, ‘That guy intrigued me because I saw him in an elevator when I was coming up the elevator and he had a unique look, so we need him.’” [6:30-6:46]
EC3 was recovering from a concussion when WWE began airing vignettes promoting his arrival on the main roster. He added that the company’s higher-ups likely had “no intention or idea” about the six former NXT stars:
“I even think the call-up, I think it was Lars Sullivan, myself, Otis, probably Tucker too, I forget who else… Lacey Evans was involved… we all got called up,” EC3 continued. “They really came out of nowhere and we think it was mostly because I think they got really bad ratings for two weeks, like, ‘We need an influx of something,’ but they had no intention or idea who we were, what we were doing or what we were about.” [6:46-7:19]
Watch the video above to hear EC3 and Vince Russo’s thoughts on Vince McMahon’s view of AEW and WCW.
EC3 doubts Vince McMahon's knowledge of his WWE NXT work
The Control Your Narrative (CYN) founder performed on NXT between 2010 and 2013 before returning to the brand in 2018. He received his release from WWE in 2020 after injuries and underwhelming storylines hindered his time on the main roster.
On reflection, EC3 believes there should have been more continuity between Triple H’s NXT and Vince McMahon’s main roster:
“It’s almost like, ‘Here are five to six people, Vince, and then he sees one thing.’ He has no idea [about] any of our body of work. ‘This? No. This? Maybe. This? We’ll make this guy do this.’ And then there’s no hindsight, there’s no thought, there’s no continuity from who we were to where we were going. We were just thrown in the fray. For some, it worked. For some, now he’s hosting a podcast!” [7:20-7:46]
EC3 also explained how Triple H did not view NXT as “developmental” during his time as the brand’s creative figurehead.
What are your memories of the six sudden WWE main roster call-ups from NXT? Let us know in the comments section.
Please credit Sportskeeda’s “The Wrestling Outlaws” and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
