History Wrestling / EC3

* TheBadGuyWins: What Ethan Carter III believes in and clearly lives by in TNA.

* PoisonousFriend: Towards Rockstar Spud before the latter's HeelFaceTurn, which made him an EvilFormerFriend. Nowadays the alignments

* RealityEnsues: One of the more refreshing aspects of his HeelFaceTurn in 2016. He is still the same Ethan Carter III, just a bit more valiant and interacting more positively with the crowd. Just because he and Dixie Carter are both face after Matt Hardy's actions doesn't mean that her mistrust of his intentions and ignorance of his character judgment for over half a year is now water under the bridge. He still hasn't completely forgiven her mistakes, and is perfectly willing to take his vengeance against Matt Hardy all on his own if he has to. Rockstar Spud, meanwhile, hasn't forgotten about either the good times he and Ethan shared together as friends during the Team Dixie run, OR the abuse, betrayal, hatred, bloody battle, and eventual scalping he suffered at Ethan's hands when Ethan outright became TheBully in response to Dixie being thrown through a table. And, as it turns out, he hasn't forgiven Ethan for the latter in the least, pretending to have his back against the Matt Hardy Brand only to slam a cage door in his face, cost him a chance to take back the title, and then destroy him with a one-man stair-and-con-chair-to.

* PoisonousFriend: Towards Rockstar Spud before the latter's HeelFaceTurn. Now he's an EvilFormerFriend.

* {{Rich B|itch}}astard: And how!

* ShipTease: Derrick had this with Kaitlyn while still officially tied to Maxine, which he was actively encouraged to pursue [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy obvious]] [[HenpeckedHusband reasons]]. Eventually upgraded to OfficialCouple following the StagingAnIntervention segment.

Per usual, [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]] has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Carter_III the formal info-dump]] on his career.

* CassandraTruth: Seriously, he was literally THE ONLY PERSON who saw fit to express the thought that his Aunt Dixie suddenly up and trusting Jeff Jarrett to the extent of making Double J her second choice to '''run the product''' is a horrible idea. But because he's a corrupt entitled prick himself who's out to protect his TNA World Heavyweight Championship title, not even Dixie believed him…until Drew Galloway got the proof that GFW's Chris Mordetzky was the man that attacked Drew and gave a GFW wrestler the opening to challenge for Ethan's title. Even then, just to prove that face Dixie is no less biased than heel Dixie, when she thanked Drew's team of five TNA guys for helping beat back GFW by giving them a #1 contender's match to face Ethan for the title, she has never stopped heaping praise on Drew for his loyalty long enough to even give [=EC3=] credit for calling the truth beforehand or stopping PJ Black from stealing the world title for GFW. In fact, when [=EC3=] questioned her on this, she responded by giving Matt Hardy the opening back into the World Title picture by putting him in the match and making Jeff the referee. No wonder his reactions to Dixie following each time Matt took the title from him were less than embracing.[[note]]He screamed in her face that she was dead to him after Matt pinned Galloway to take his title the first time, then put forth an injunction that resulted in a World Cup-style tournament series in which he beat Matt in the finals cleanly to prove himself the rightful champion. When he returned from the second, blatant screwjob by Matt, Reby Sky, and [[BodyguardBetrayal Tyrus]], resulting in a FaceHeelDoubleTurn, to get revenge on the Matt Hardy Brand while they were trying to force her to fire him, he gave Dixie a cold glance and went on his way.]]

* CassandraTruth: Seriously, he was literally THE ONLY PERSON who saw fit to express the thought that his Aunt Dixie suddenly up and trusting Jeff Jarrett to the extent of making Double J her second choice to '''run the product''' is a horrible idea. But because he's a corrupt entitled prick himself who's out to protect his TNA World Heavyweight Championship title, not even Dixie believed him…until Drew Galloway got the proof that GFW's Chris Mordetzky was the man that attacked Drew and gave a GFW wrestler the opening to challenge for Ethan's title. Even then, just to prove that face Dixie is no less biased than heel Dixie, she has never given [=EC3=] credit for calling the truth beforehand or stopping PJ Black from stealing the world title for GFW.

* CassandraTruth[=/=]GenreSavvy[=/=]OnlySaneMan: Seriously, he was literally THE ONLY PERSON who saw fit to express the thought that his Aunt Dixie suddenly up and trusting Jeff Jarrett to the extent of making Double J her second choice to '''run the product''' is a horrible idea. But because he's a corrupt entitled prick himself who's out to protect his TNA World Heavyweight Championship title, not even Dixie believed him…until Drew Galloway got the proof that GFW's Chris Mordetzky was the man that attacked Drew and gave a GFW wrestler the opening to challenge for Ethan's title. Even then, just to prove that face Dixie is no less biased than heel Dixie, she has never given [=EC3=] credit for calling the truth beforehand or stopping PJ Black from stealing the world title for GFW.

* ArchEnemy: Bateman had [[Wrestling/{{Fandango}} Johnny Curtis]]. [=EC3=] has had Wrestling/KurtAngle, Wrestling/{{Sting}}, [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Bully Ray Dudley]], and now Wrestling/{{Matt|Hardy}} and Wrestling/JeffHardy.

--> "The world title series isn't over until I win." [[labelnote:For the record]]He backed it up.[[/labelnote]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Ultimately, is this to Wrestling/MattHardy

** Egotistical superstar with an entrance consisting of a back-turned pose and darkened blue lights goes about two years in TNA and and even wins and loses the World Heavyweight Championship twice all before ever being pinned or submitted, and is eventually subject to BodyguardBetrayal in a pivotal title match. Talk about an [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} instant classic]] there, huh?

** Egotistical superstar with an entrance consisting of a back-turned pose and darkened blue lights goes about two years in TNA and and even wins and loses the World Heavyweight Championship twice all before ever being pinned or submitted. Talk about an [[Wrestling/{{Christian}} instant classic]] there, huh?

* {{Expy}}: Overpaid/overhyped prima-donna athlete whose name can be turned into an acronym. Definitely shades of [[Wrestling/MontelVontaviousPorter MVP]] there. Funnily enough, the real MVP came back to TNA, gradually took away Ethan's security blanket in Dixie, and started calling him [[Film/StarWars C3PO]]—much to his dismay.

* FaceHeelDoubleTurn: One could say this played out over a period of several months, what with being right about Wrestling/JeffJarrett and GFW, being the only reason they didn't get the world title before Dixie wizened up; getting effectively screwed out of the title at BFG thanks to Dixie pandering to the Hardyz in their home state just to stick it to Ethan for questioning her; his [[RulesLawyer injunction on the title]] out of spite resulting in a FIFA World Cup style series being booked for the title; and ultimately beating Matt clean in the finals of the tournament to reclaim his title[[note]]though he did use [[Wrestling/BrodusClay Tyrus]]' help in half the matches leading up to that point[[/note]]. The trigger was finally pulled a couple of weeks after the tournament's end[[note]]actually three days in tapings' time[[/note]] when Matt, influenced by Reby's advice to stop giving and start taking, drew Ethan into giving him a Last Man Standing title match by putting his TNA career on the line, only to execute a plan to blatantly screw Ethan over and take the belt for keeps with the help of Reby and the [[BodyguardBetrayal traitorous]] [[Wrestling/BrodusClay Tyrus]].
* '''{{HEEL}}''': Oh yes. He has turned his understated wrestling ability into an advantage rather than a handicap simply by mastering the art of being a entitled trolling silver-spoon jock who will either get under your skin and piss you off or make you admire his brilliant ability to do so. The latter reaction gradually took over, which combined with oddly sympathetic booking over a period of several months ended up leading to FaceHeelDoubleTurn above.

* '''{{HEEL}}''': Oh yes. He has turned his understated wrestling ability into an advantage rather than a handicap simply by mastering the art of being a entitled trolling silver-spoon jock who will either get under your skin and piss you off or make you admire his brilliant ability to do so.

'''Michael Hutter''' (born March 18, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, comedian. He is signed to Wrestling/{{TNA}} under the ring name '''Ethan Carter III''' (often shortened to "'''[=EC3=]'''"), the storyline nephew of TNA President Dixie Carter and a two-time (and current) TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

* SmallNameBigEgo / YouKillItYouBoughtIt: Any time he beats a legendary wrestler, he will siphon off part of their nickname or general identity to add it to his own. This is where the "New [[Wrestling/{{Sting}} Icon]] of ProfessionalWrestling" and "[[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Hardcore]] [[Wrestling/KurtAngle American]] Icon" handles come from. Has even threatened to become add "Charismatic" in front of the latter title if he faced [[Wrestling/JeffHardy a certain enigma]]—before declining the match.

* SmallNameBigEgo / YouKilledItYouBoughtIt: Any time he beats a legendary wrestler, he will siphon off part of their nickname or general identity to add it to his own. This is where the "New [[Wrestling/{{Sting}} Icon]] of ProfessionalWrestling" and "[[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Hardcore]] [[Wrestling/KurtAngle American]] Icon" handles come from. Has even threatened to become add "Charismatic]]" in front of the latter title if he faced [[Wrestling/JeffHardy a certain enigma]]—before declining the match.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Any time he beats a legendary wrestler, he will siphon off part of their nickname or general identity to add it to his own. This is where the "New [[Wrestling/{{Sting}} Icon]] of ProfessionalWrestling" and "[[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Hardcore]] [[Wrestling/KurtAngle American]] Icon" handles come from.

!!! "Trouble Trouble Trouble Trouble Trouble Trouble Tropes":

** During the TNA World Title Series:
--> "The world title series isn't over until I win."
** He backed this one up.

* {{Troll}}: Gradually developed into this during his promos, InsultBackfire above being one of the more prominent examples.

* YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: In a backstage segment on the last night of Season 4, Wrestling/BryanDanielson recalled saying that he'd punch Bateman if he got eliminated (which he did, the prior week). Bateman reaches down and ''immediately'' tries to invoke this; as soon as he straightens up, Danielson decks him. But seeing how he would go on and win the match for his team, Danielson's actions turned into a {{Wangst}}less version of GetAHoldOfYourselfMan.

* [[UnrelatedBrothers Unrelated Nephew and Aunt]]: He's not really a member of the Carter family, just the Ethan character.