ROH star EC3 has claimed that WWE stole the idea for Raw Underground from him after watching his “The Narrative” Cinematic Wrestling video, which he released on his YouTube channel back in July.
The video, which can be seen below, was released soon after EC3 completed his 90-day non-compete clause with the WWE after he was fired in April.
According to EC3, he pitched a Fight Club-type concept to WWE and even sent a promo video to WWE’s creative team.
“While working with the WWE, and even during my NXT run, I pitched this exact same thing about controlling my narrative and this is what I wanted to do with the EC3 character,” he said on this week’s ROH Strong Podcast. “The day I was released was when I sent them a vignette with verbatim, the exact words I used in the video released online.”
EC3 went onto share his first reaction to watching Shane McMahon introducing Raw Underground on Monday Night Raw in early August.
“While mine was shot in a real underground, this stuff was inauthentic and had no heart. When I saw Shane McMahon in the ring, it looked like manufactured, heartless, and desolate studio-based stuff.
“The minute I sent them the video, I knew it [the idea] was going to be stolen. I initially thought they would only steal parts of it, but I didn’t expect them to rip off the entire aesthetics [of the concept],” he added.
EC3 also said that since his video was only watched by “a minor bubble of the professional wrestling audience” unlike Raw’s massive audience, it was easy for WWE to “steal the idea” and get away with it.
EC3 made his official ROH debut on ROH TV this past weekend with an in-ring promo and challenge to the roster.
As noted before, WWE is reportedly set to discontinue Raw Underground, the “shoot-style fights” that were introduced by Shane McMahon in August.
