Despite finding a lot of success in NXT, things went horribly wrong for EC3 when he was moved to the main roster. It's believed that the fact he was booed during matches with Dean Ambrose is what led to Vince McMahon souring on him, a bizarre decision considering the fact fans wanted to cheer for the former Shield member at the time as they knew he was leaving WWE.
After that, EC3 barely received any television time, and was portrayed as a mute in backstage segments. Now, during an interview with Chris Jericho on his "Talk Is Jericho" podcast, EC3 has opened up about being called up to the main roster and his weird interactions with the WWE Chairman.
"When it happened, first off I was on injury reserve with a concussion when I got called up to the main roster," he explained. "That was odd to me, but, there’s a reason. There’s a purpose. Let’s go. I had no promos. I was ordered not to speak. I think it was a rush call up of a bunch of people because they were feeling heat from numbers being low and fans were complaining. They were like, we are doing something."
EC3 then went on to explain that despite some positive interactions with McMahon, things never went right for him. "Yes, I did the four hour waits in the hallways. I had a couple of conversations with him. They were all very positive. He really said everything people say about him. He said, 'You look great. I know you can talk. You have a ton of charisma. You are a good worker but you’re not super flashy and that’s ok, because some of my top draws were never flashy guys.'"
"I’m like, 'Ok, cool. Can I talk?' He said, 'Well I think you are a little over the top.' I’m thinking, how many promos have you seen of me? One. I think they saw one and it was shot in my pool at the condo and it was fairly over the top. Regardless, you’re basing this on one promo. He said, 'Why don’t you speak like a weatherman? Very monotone and one dimensional."
Yeah, that sounds like something Vince McMahon would say...