WWE News: Mick Foley Says Company ‘Really Missed The Boat’ With Recent Impact Wrestling Returnee
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley recently aired his thoughts on EC3’s return to Impact Wrestling via a taped vignette at the Slammiversary pay-per-view, suggesting that his former employer missed out on a great opportunity by mostly booking him as a lower-card enhancement talent.
On Wednesday night, Foley tweeted a side-by-side photo of EC3 and former WWE superstar Robert Maillet, who saw action for the company in the late 1990s under the ring name Kurrgan. After joking that the two men might be one and the same due to their similar facial appearance, he added toward the end of his caption that he believes the company “really missed the boat” with the former Impact Wrestling World Champion during his two-year-long second stint with the promotion.
Have #EC3 and #KURRGAN been the same guy all along?
Has anyone seen @Robert_Maillet & Ethan Carter III in the same place at the same time?
Just one man’s opinion, but I think @WWE really missed the boat with #ec3 pic.twitter.com/95yTh61UYv
— Mick Foley (@foleyispod) July 22, 2020
Foley’s description of EC3 as someone who may have been misused by his last employer comes shortly after the latter spoke in-depth about his time as a main roster superstar and how he wasn’t very happy with his spot on the card. In an interview with WrestleTalk, he admitted that he was planning to ask for his release but decided to stick it out because of the financial uncertainties brought out by the coronavirus pandemic and his desire to continue providing for his family.
“I was actually very relieved,” he said. “The man who called me seemed to be very upset having to do all that so I was like ‘this is fine. It’s okay. Like it’s going to be okay.’ I don’t have anyone to prove to anyone else or them at all because I don’t live in the past anymore.”
Although he showed some promise after joining the NXT roster in 2018, EC3 failed to make waves after getting called up to the main roster. Rumors of backstage heat dogged him during a run that mostly saw him lose to other wrestlers during his rare appearances on television. Following his release, he had posted multiple teasers on social media that hinted at an imminent return to Impact.
Foley’s remarks about WWE missing an opportunity with EC3 aren’t the first time in which he has commented about the company’s decision in April to let go of dozens of wrestlers due to coronavirus-related budget concerns, or about the wrestlers themselves. Shortly after the cuts were announced, Foley retweeted Drake Maverick’s emotional video statement on his release, stating in the caption that it would be “far more difficult” for the released superstars to “land on their feet” amid the pandemic.
