EC3 Says WWE Stole Raw Underground Idea From Him, Sent Character Pitch to WWE The Day He Got Released

If you recognized any similarities between the introduction video for EC3’s post-WWE character and the announcement of Raw Underground, you’re not alone. EC3 spoke with the ROHStrong podcast and said WWE “stole” the visuals of the Raw Underground introduction from his video. EC3’s video “The Narrative” was released in July, immediately after his 90 day no-compete clause was released, and WWE debuted the Raw Underground concept in August. EC3 noted that he had sent in essentially the same video that he ultimately released as a character pitch the day that WWE released him and other talent in April as part of their pandemic-related cuts and that he knew it was going to be stolen, but didn’t expect it to be so similar. You can see the highlights below and full audio, as well as the Narrative video and Raw Underground intro for comparison:

Welcome to #RawUnderground! 😲@shanemcmahon is changing the game on Monday nights!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/kkTSns0t2i

— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2020

On the teaser video for his character: “Working within WWE I was pitching kind of this exact thing. And I did show up at TV, I had my head shaved, I didn’t tell anybody. I had sparse facial hair because it took me three months to actually grow it out. But this was in the works, and this has been in my brain for a very long time. Even back to the previous conversation when we were talking about NXT, this is what I was thinking of doing, this is what I wanted to do. The day I was released I sent in a video to creative that was the promo, character pitch, the whole nine yards. I actually sent that in earlier, but I reshot the promo so it was really good. But I sent that in, and we get released. And the first thing I did was put that video online of this character that I want to do with this entire synopsis of what this character is, this pitch I had to the WWE. Verbatim, what I sent them, I just put it out there.”

On the Raw Underground intro looking similar to his video: “I knew it was going to be stolen, so I was prepared for it. I didn’t know it would go to that lengths, but — and I knew mine played to a minor bubble of the professional wrestling audience while majority of [the audience] saw whatever the hell they put out there. The way I look at it is kind of like I was Wayne’s World. I was producing this show in Aurora in the basement with by buddy, Garth. We’ll call him JC in this instance. And then Rob Lowe came in, bought us. And what I saw, I saw Shane McMahon in the ring and this — not real underground. Mine was in a real underground. This manufactured, heartless, desolate studio. I’m looking at Shane and I’m like when Noah was rapping on Wayne’s World after they bought him out. It was just inauthentic, and like I said it had no heart.”

On his reaction to Raw Underground: “So I knew something would be taken from it, I didn’t expect the whole aesthetic. And while it upset my friend JC, who I worked very hard on with it, at the same time it’s just a challenge to do something different and better next time, which I definitely plan on doing. Because again, control your narrative.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ROHStrong with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.