Canadian Wrestling’s Elite (CWE) returns to Plaza 88 with a special guest making his first appearance in Prince Albert.
Ethan Carter III (EC3) will be the in Prince Albert with the Rage in the Cage Tour on May 13.
This is EC3’s (born Michael Hutter) first tour with CWE and he is looking forward to coming to Canada.
“I’m very excited,” Carter said. “Canada is one of the most naturally beautiful countries on the planet, so hopefully I get to see some of that beauty via mountains, via forests, via roads in between long distances. I’m not quite sure the terrain I’ll be encountering, but I’m definitely up for the adventure, and no adventure is better than one that takes place in the Great White North.”
EC3 is a former two-time TNA Champion and recently returned to the company.
“I’m not technically signed. I’m working with companies, but I kind of have a deal where I’m still playing the field. I’m kind of open for business,” Carter said.
“I control my own destiny at the moment. If any Canadian people want to bring me back, I might move here. I met a nice girl at a coffee shop, so I’m down to move back.”
Carter explained that he wanted to get into wrestling since he was a child.
“I guess you could say it was a childhood ambition,” he said. “Like many people who follow this path, it started from a very, very young age, kind of growing up. In that time frame, I loved the athletes.”
Carter is from Cleveland and said that sports and athletics along with film stars like Sylvester Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme were his larger-than-life icons.
“When I found professional wrestling, I sort of found the best of both worlds,” he said. “Growing up with Warrior and Hogan, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect and the like, the childhood ambition just kind of grew. (It) stuck with me through high school, after high school.”
He said that he decided to try it officially when he was attending college.
“Then I think there was one day I was going to college and I said, ‘you know what? If I don’t try to be a wrestler, I’m going to regret everything in my life’ … so here we are.”
Carter began his training in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). At the time, OVW was a WWE developmental territory, but they also offered training for people who were unsigned.
“It was called the Intermediate Class, and it was with Rip Rogers,” Carter said. “One thing, and if there’s any prospective wrestlers reading this, you have to continue to hone and master your craft if you really want to make it. You start somewhere and hopefully it’s a good place.”
He also trained in Cleveland under J-Rocc before going to OVW in 2006-2007.
“Well, he initially trained me, but I knew I needed to grow and I needed to master the craft, and I went to OVW on my own accord,” he explained.
Carter said that just as he was starting to train in OVW in hopes of being signed he tore his ACL and had to move back to Cleveland. It took eight months for him to recover.
That injury caused him to fall off the WWE radar. He said he needed to do something drastic and then OVW was no longer a developmental territory.
“They moved it to Tampa, Florida, which became FCW,” Carter said. “FCW was hosting a five day pay, I think, $1,500 money grab. But at the same time, it was a seminar tryout where WWE officials would be involved. I saved up as much as I could, I bought my flight, I flew to Tampa, Florida.”
Through the seminar and tryout he got back on the radar and signed to WWE in 2009. He said that some of his best memories are from his time in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) which eventually morphed into NXT.
“The talent that was down there, I mean, it’s a who’s who of who made it,” he said. “Looking back, what a great time.
“But from 2010 to about 2013, it was Florida Championship Wrestling and then Triple H took over the developmental system, rebranding it NXT and they eventually moved it to Orlando.”
At the time he was working under the name Derrick Bateman and another injury hampered him.
“When the curly haired idiot Derrick Bateman was fired from WWE, I actually suffered another knee injury rehab process. When I returned, they were making the move and I was expendable. I was let go. Where TNA came (around) in 2013, suddenly I forgot the fact that I was related to Dixie Carter the whole time. She was not only my aunt, but she owned a wrestling company. And so EC3 debuted in, I believe, October of 2013 with TNA,” he said.
As far as his best memories of his career, being a three time world champion ranks highly.
“That’s pretty memorable. Two times in TNA, one with the NWA,” he said.
“I mean, you’ll have to read my books to get to be skinny on all the memorable moments, but I mean, being a world heavyweight champion, traveling the world, wrestling icons, legends, beating them, defeating my childhood hero in my dream match to win my first world title in Kurt Angle. Plenty of memorable moments, brother.”
Carter said that he is excited to be part of the CWE Rage in the Cage tour.
In a Special Attraction Match EC3 meets Former CWE Champion “Chizzled” Chad Daniels. The Steel Cage Main Event features Crude Oil” Cody Mac against “Hotshot” Danny Duggan. In a CWE Championship Match CWE Champion “The Crazy MoFo” CAM!!Ikaze faces “The Headline” Shaun Martens. Other matches include “Big” Mike Miller against Ronnie Attitude and The Canadian Goose against Danny Diggler.
“I certainly encourage everyone to come out,” Carter said. “Families, friends. It’s going to be a great show. We’re going to be halfway through the tour at this point. I think that’s kind of when everyone’s at their apex and really dialed in and tuned in. (I’m) looking forward to it and seeing what the area brings. I’m here for the journey, man, and the journey is taking us there.”
The Meet and Greet is at 6 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and bell time is 7 p.m. at Plaza 88.
Advance Tickets are available at Colette Portamedic Services and Flawless Victory or online at cwetickets.com.
