Eli Drake’s Silence is Music to EC3’s Ears

With his big victory this past Thursday on Impact, Ethan Carter, III (better known as MY BOY EC3 around these parts) was able to silence his loudest critic, E_Li_Drake. The stipulations for the match, in case you’ve forgotten, were that if Drake won the match, he would have inherited the position as #1 contender that Carter holds. If Carter was to win, then Drake would have to keep his mouth shut for the rest of 2016!

Carter had grown tired of Drake and his incessant need to just… keep… talking. Drake had started up with Carter a little before Bound For Glory this past October, but it was the event itself, which saw Drake secure a Bound for Gold title shot while Carter failed in his bid to win the TNA Heavyweight Championship from Lashley, that saw Drake turn up his antics and aim his fire directly at Carter.

Drake was on top of the world, while Carter now found himself bearing its weight on his shoulders. To make things worse, most – if not all – of what Drake was saying was absolutely true. EC3 came in with all the fanfare and, thanks to who his Aunt is, was immediately placed in a protective spot. He built a win streak against people not even on the TNA roster. All of his big wins that he brags about were all achieved with less-than-respectable means. Ethan Carter had been protected. He may have later validated his spot with hard work, but the road was never a difficult one, and Drake made sure to hammer that point home repeatedly.

Undaunted, EC3 appeared to have a master plan laid out. He challenged Drake to a winner-takes-all, one on one match. If Carter won, he would take Drake’s guaranteed title shot that he earned by winning Bound for Gold, and if EC3 somehow fell short, then he pledged that he would stay out of the TNA World Title picture for a full year. Plus, it would give Drake a huge bragging point of having defeated EC3 if he were to win. There was just no way Drake could turn that offer down!

Except, of course, that there was absolutely a way for Drake to turn down the challenge. Noting that he didn’t need to waste his time with this challenge, he basically told EC3 to “piss off,” highlighting the fact that Carter had his chance(s) and blew it. Meanwhile, Drake was holding onto a guaranteed title shot, regardless of whether or not he had ever beaten the great Ethan Carter before. So, why would he be stupid enough to put it all the line, just because EC3 wanted one more shot at the title?

In a rare moment for a TNA Heel, Drake showed some great brainwork in his refusing of EC3’s offer. He didn’t allow Carter’s grand speech to rile him up. He didn’t let Carter’s direct challenging of Drake’s manhood get to him. E_Li_Drake knew he was the one in control, and he wasn’t going to give that all away by giving into TNA’s Golden Boy.

Besides, he knew he’d defeat Eddie Edwards when he finally cashed in that title shot.

Well… at least he knew that EC3’s choking tendencies would keep him out of any future title shots!

And just like that, all the upper hand that Eli Drake had was gone in a flash. Defeated cleanly by Eddie Edwards, and then forced to watch as EC3 somehow came out victorious in a fatal four-way to determine the new #1 contender for the TNA Heavyweight Title. Sure, perhaps something could be said about the fact that pinning Trevor Lee was somehow enough to get someone another heavyweight title shot, but at the end of the day, there was no denying that the tables, at least the ones for Drake and Carter, had absolutely turned.

But of the many things that E_Li_Drake is, “stupid” hasn’t been one of them. As soon as Carter won his spot as the new #1 contender, Drake went into action. He had a segment of Fact Of Life coming up, and used that time to bring Carter out as a special guest. The two had another wonderful heart to heart, with Drake wondering aloud why Carter always has to make things awkward.

This time, it was Carter who had an idea. A plan, if you will. In just the short time between EC3’s win and his appearing on Drake’s show, good ol’ Eli had brainstormed a situation where he would wrestle Carter, with Carter’s #1 contender spot on the line. That meaning, if Drake were to win, he would take EC3’s spot. However, in the event that Carter were to defeat Drake, then Eli Drake would – and this is where it gets good – stay out of the TNA Heavyweight Title picture for a full year! It was an incredible scenario, and for Drake to come up with that on the spot was incredible.

EC3, however, was not impressed. In fact, he was of the impression that Drake’s challenge sounded quite a bit like the one that Carter had issued to Drake not that far back. And, as Carter remembered, that challenge was turned down. Not wanting to make things easy for the now desperate Eli, Carter also pointed out that he wanted Drake in the title scene, that he wanted Drake chasing after Carter, and that he needed people like Drake to push him (Carter) to get better.

And so, as you might have guessed, he wasn’t totally interested in the challenge as it was laid out to him.

Carter, however, wasn’t going to let Drake fully sit in his own mess. At least, that’s what he said. It appeared (to this columnist, at least), that he was more making sure that he didn’t appear to be ducking a challenge from a guy that he had previously called out. Regardess of why he did it, the fact remains that EC3 would have a counteroffer for Drake: instead of being out of the TNA Heavyweight Title picture for the next year, EC3 instead suggested that, should Drake lose, he would have to give up something even more precious than any gold belt. Drake would have to give up, as noted above, the right to speak for the rest of 2016.

Which, of course, catches us up to speed, and brings us back to the beginning of this column. EC3 was victorious, and now E_Li_Drake will have to live up to his end of the bargain by not talking FOR THE REST OF 2016. All five weeks of it.

And that’s what bugs this columnist the most: What does EC3 have to gain by silencing E_Li_Drake? What is the motive here? Carter had beaten Drake before, so there was nothing to really “prove” here. He was already guaranteed a championship match, and so no luster was added with this win. Drake hounded Carter for weeks, and all EC3 wanted in return was five simple weeks of quiet?

Does the stipulation prove that Drake has gotten to Carter? Had he finally rattled the cage one too many times, leaving EC3 with no choice but to take it – Drake’s voice – away from him? This seems like such a petty move for Carter. Maybe if this was still the EC3 who hid behind his Aunt Dixie while she used her corporate power to clear the path, I could see Carter doing something like this. But this is 2016. Ethan Carter is an ASS KICKING MACHINE, people!
This ASS KICKING MACHINE is the version that needs people to be quiet after he beats them, because he doesn’t like hearing what they say.

And is that really the issue here? Is it possible that EC3, the Ass Kicking Machine, the Human Equivalent of Absolute Perfection… is it possible that he got tired of hearing Drake recount how EC3 rose to the top? Is it possible that Carter, more than aware of what he’s done in the past, didn’t exactly want those tales being repeated to fans that may have forgotten (or never seen) the things that EC3 had done?

So instead of simply winning a match, or taking bragging rights, or even a title shot… Carter needed to silence his adversary. He needed to make sure that no one would bring up the actual narrative to EC3’s career. He needed to make sure that, along with Ace Commentator Josh Matthews, he could continue to change history, and continue to talk about all the spectacular things he’d done. Clean, and on his own, of course. Matthews was always Carter’s biggest fan, so he knew having a lackey at the booth would make this total memory-wipe of the TNA fans a possibility. Has that been the plan from the second he lost the TNA Title at last year’s Bound For Glory? To rebuild himself in his own image, and to make everyone forget who he was?

And if that was the plan, is that why, the second Eli Drake started badmouthing EC3, that Carter was in Drake’s face, threatening all types of attacks, and begging Drake to “push that button one more time,” so he could have the freedom to strike?

We’ve seen EC3 pushed before. But no one’s ever seemed to get his goat the way Drake did. And in the end, all Carter wanted was for Drake to shut up? That was the best plan the Ass Kicking Machine could put together? Is he really that afraid of his past? Is he really that insecure? And is that the case here – that E_Li_Drake has given us a blueprint for getting into EC3’s head?

I hope EC3 enjoys these quiet next few weeks. Because when 2017 starts, the talking resumes, and it’s pretty clear that EC3 doesn’t like what E_Li_Drake has to say. And that’s not an insult…

It’s All Wrestling. It’s All Silly. We All Love It