EC3

Mike Hunter

On April 14, 2003, EC3 appeared at the *Heat* tapings prior to *Raw* as **Mike Hunter**, where he was defeated by Rodney Mack. On July 24, 2006, he appeared again at *Heat*, where he teamed with Chris Cronus in a loss to Viscera and Charlie Haas. He also appeared on *Raw* in August 2006, as a police officer with Shane McMahon who were to arrest D-Generation X.

During the finale of season three of *NXT*, it was announced that EC3, under the name **Derrick Bateman**, would be part of the fourth season, with Season 1 alumnus Daniel Bryan as his mentor. He made his in-ring debut on the December 7 episode of *NXT*, teaming with Daniel Bryan in a loss to Conor O'Brian and his pro Alberto Del Rio. He had his first singles match on the December 14 episode of *NXT*, but lost to Alberto Del Rio via submission. For the next months, he participated in various challenges. Bateman made it to the final three competitors, but was eliminated on the February 22 episode of *NXT*. He then returned on the March 1 episode of *NXT*, competing in a tag team match with Conor O' Brian defeating the team of Byron Saxton and Jacob Novak. While competing on *NXT*, Bateman appeared in pre-taped vignette on *Raw* as a scientist with the "Bateman Institute" advertising a fictional Mark Henry cologne. He also made his *SmackDown* debut with Damien Sandow, who refused to fight him. Bateman got his debut match against Ryback and lost.

After a period of absence from WWE programming, Bateman was inserted into the fifth season of NXT as a rookie midway into the competition, returning on the June 28, 2011 episode of *NXT Redemption* and bringing back his pro Daniel Bryan in the process. Meanwhile, Bateman's character began to show more villainous traits, eventually causing Bryan to abandon him after declaring that Bateman was making a fool out of himself. In July, Bateman started a long feud with Titus O'Neil that lasted until November, as both of them frequently traded wins and losses in a series of matches. In August, Maxine made her return to *NXT* as Bateman's girlfriend, and she started a concurrent feud with O'Neil's friend AJ. Bateman and Maxine lost to O'Neil and AJ on the September 6 episode of *NXT Redemption*. On the October 26 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman proposed to Maxine, who accepted the proposal after slapping and kissing him. On the November 2 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman and Maxine became known as "Beta-Max", and they participated in a six-person tag match along with JTG in a loss to O'Neil, AJ and Percy Watson.

On the November 9 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Maxine revealed to Bateman that she and his former friend Johnny Curtis went on a date, and they later tag teamed together in a winning effort against the team of Titus O'Neil and Percy Watson. On the December 7 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman defeated Johnny Curtis in singles competition, turning face once again, and was afterwards broken up with by Maxine thinking he flirted with her mother. After Bateman again defeated Johnny Curtis in a singles match on the December 28 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Maxine again turned on Bateman, thinking he was trying to ruin her career, kissing Curtis and leaving with him. The next week on the January 4 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman lost in singles competition to Darren Young after a distraction from Johnny Curtis and Maxine announcing that they're getting married in Las Vegas. On the 100th episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman interrupted Johnny Curtis and Maxine's wedding ceremony by showing a security camera video clip in his locker room of Johnny Curtis stealing Bateman's iPad and sending an email to Theodore Long about getting rid of Maxine and going to *SmackDown*, and was later reunited with Maxine.

On the February 15 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman teamed with Justin Gabriel to defeat the team of Heath Slater and Johnny Curtis, and afterwards saved his friend Kaitlyn from Maxine. Two weeks later, Kaitlyn confessed her love for Bateman, kissing him during an intervention also involving Justin Gabriel and Alicia Fox, until Maxine came out and again attacked Kaitlyn. On the March 7 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman was backstage with Johnny Curtis and Maxine, who revealed to Bateman that they are no longer dating after Kaitlyn kissed Bateman, leading to Bateman and Kaitlyn defeating Curtis and Maxine in a mixed tag team match. On the March 14 episode of *NXT Redemption*, he confessed his love for Kaitlyn and kissed her, solidifying their relationship. On the March 21 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman and Kaitlyn were backstage with Tamina talking about he and Kaitlyn's new found relationship, and later encountered Maxine and Johnny Curtis, who accused them of being involved with Matt Striker's disappearance. Bateman was accompanied by Kaitlyn in singles competition on the March 28 episode of *NXT Redemption*, losing to Hunico. Bateman and Kaitlyn discovered Matt Striker in a janitor's closet hidden by Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks on the April 11 episode of *NXT Redemption*. On the April 25 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman was attacked by JTG, but later went on to defeat him in singles competition. Bateman made his televised return on the May 4 episode of *SmackDown* where he once again faced Ryback, but was defeated. On the May 9 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman was attacked backstage by an unknown person. On the May 30 episode of *NXT Redemption*, Bateman competed in a tag team match with Percy Watson and Justin Gabriel in a winning effort against Johnny Curtis, Michael McGillicutty, and JTG. Bateman competed on the June 8 episode of *SmackDown* against Brodus Clay in a losing effort. On the final episode of the fifth season of *NXT* on June 13, Bateman teamed with Percy Watson in a losing effort against Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks.

After the conclusion of *NXT Redemption*, *NXT* transitioned into WWE's developmental territory. Bateman then continued to appear on *NXT*, where he defeated rival Johnny Curtis on the June 27 episode of *NXT*. On the October 27 episode of *Saturday Morning Slam*, Bateman lost to United States Champion Antonio Cesaro in a non-title match. In January 2013, Bateman entered the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament along with Alex Riley, but they were eliminated in the first round after a loss to Kassius Ohno and Leo Kruger. Bateman's final match was a non-title loss against NXT Champion Big E Langston, which was taped before his release. On May 17, 2013, Bateman was released from his contract.

On January 27, 2018, Bateman, now known as **EC3**, returned to WWE and its developmental territory NXT, sitting in the audience at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia. Later, in an exclusive backstage interview, he confirmed his signing and made a vague reference to his previous stint in WWE, by saying that it had been over 1000 days since being a part of WWE, and he was thrilled to be back home. On the March 28 episode of *NXT*, EC3 made his debut as a heel where he was announced as a participant in a six-man ladder match match for the NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans against Adam Cole, Killian Dain, Lars Sullivan, Ricochet and Velveteen Dream where he was unsuccessful. Throughout the summer, he began a feud with Velveteen Dream after he walked out on him during a tag team match, turning him face in the process. This led to a match between the two at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4 where he lost. He returned on the August 29 episode of *NXT*, where he began a feud with Lars Sullivan after EC3 accused him of attacking Aleister Black. On the October 3 episode of NXT, EC3 faced Lars Sullivan in a losing effort. He then began a feud with Undisputed Era after he defeated Adam Cole on the October 24 episode of NXT and was attacked by Undisputed Era afterwards where they injured his knee. On the January 9, 2019 episode of *NXT*, EC3 was defeated by Adam Cole in what would be his last NXT match.

On December 17, 2018, it was announced EC3 would be debuting on the main roster. During the following weeks, he was seen during backstage segments of *Raw* and *SmackDown*, before making his official debut on the February 4, 2019 episode of *Raw*, appearing on Alexa Bliss' talk show *A Moment of Bliss* debuting as a babyface. During the segment, EC3 was interrupted by Dean Ambrose, leading to a match that only lasted two minutes, won by EC3. The following week on *Raw*, they competed in a rematch, which Ambrose won with a small package. That would be his last match on *Raw* for months. Following that, he became a fixture on *WWE Main Event.*

On the February 28 episode of *Main Event*, EC3 lost to Apollo Crews, but defeated Crews two weeks later. At WrestleMania 35, EC3 competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal but failed to win the match. In a dark match before the April 9 episode of *SmackDown*, EC3 was managed by Drake Maverick. Following that, he continued to not be used on *Raw* and following the introduction of the WWE 24/7 Championship he would be among the other undercard wrestlers chasing the champion around weekly. On the June 24 episode of *Raw*, EC3 pinned 24/7 Champion Cedric Alexander, to claim his first championship within the company, but quickly dropped it to R-Truth seconds later following a distraction by Carmella. EC3 would win the 24/7 Title three more times, trading it back and forth with R-Truth on a Pacific house show tour later in the year, making him a 4-time champion. In November, it was reported that EC3 was out of action with a concussion.

EC3 was released from WWE on April 15, 2020.