History Wrestling / EC3

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: You wouldn't think so, but he's unintentionally become TNA's answer to Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling's Wrestling/KazuchikaOkada, who ironically enough was in TNA for a couple of years and partly based his Rainmaker gimmick on past TNA characters. Both are wealthy prodigies openly questing to become legends and as a result started out in their current runs as highly arrogant jerks, but were eventually humbled by defeats which brought them down enough to tap into their latent heroic valor as well as appreciate the fact that crowds were actually giving them love, all prepping them on a path to becoming the organization's next [[TheHero top babyface]].

* ArchEnemy: Bateman had [[Wrestling/{{Fandango}} Johnny Curtis]]. [=EC3=] has had Wrestling/KurtAngle, Wrestling/{{Sting}}, [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Bully Ray]], 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]]

* InformedAbility: As Derrick Bateman and Michael Hutter, his wrestling ability was generally considered pretty good but not entirely outstanding. So when he became [=EC3=] and was billed as this hot new star, he deliberately invoked this trope for heat via constantly getting {{squash match}}es to stay undefeated yet hyping them up as epic victories. below. It ended up sticking even after moving beyond this, leading to InsultBackfire below.

** As [=EC3=] he's called himself "The New Icon of Professional Wrestling", "Wrestling's Greatest Hero", "The Hardcore American Icon", and "[[Wrestling/TripleH The New]] ([[PrecisionFStrike Fucking]]) [[Wrestling/TripleH Game]]". Since turning face Josh Mathews has referred to him as "The Ass-Kicking Machine".
* RichBitch: And how! Though he's gotten better about it as of late.

Michael Hutter (born March 18, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He was 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 TNA World Heavyweight Champion until January 2018, after which he signed with NXT (albeit, still using the "[=EC3=]" name).

* BattleCouple / OfficialCouple: "[[PortmanteauCoupleName BetaMax]]" with [[Characters/WWEDivas Maxine]] and "[[PortmanteauCoupleName KaitMan]]" with Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}}.

* BigDamnKiss: Derrick Bateman got this from Kaitlyn when he dared ask her "what is love?" during her intervention to get him away from Maxine.

* TheQuietOne: In the main roster he doesn't speak.

* 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.[[/note]]

** Egotistical ex-WWE 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, [[CanadaEh eh]]? Continues this in his departure by returning to WWE and going on its third brand.

* WhatAnIdiot: At Takeover: New Orleans, EC3 and Adam Cole forge an alliance to take out the competition. It goes well as they send various guys on and look to be getting along well. But then EC3 decides to yell out "EC3, Bay-Bay!" with Cole's signature pose. Naturally, a ticked off Cole immediately drops EC3 onto a fallen ladder.

** DiscontinuityNod: The flipside to his arrival as EC3. Not once has the full version of that name (Ethan Carter III) ever been mentioned. While he maintains a pompous rich-boy attitude, it isn't as a result of being the spoiled nephew of Dixie Carter for obvious reasons.

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

* SlapSlapKiss: After seeing him dragged through the coals by Maxine in such a relationship, it was so refreshing to see Kaitlyn wake him up from that fantasy and get him in a much more healthy coupling. Unsurprisingly, as [=EC3=] he has made no pass at ''any'' of the Knockouts.

** Egotistical ex-WWE 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, [[CanadaEh eh]]?

* WhatAnIdiot: At Takeover: New Orleans, EC3 and Adam Cole forge an alliance to take out the competition. It goes well as they send various guys on and look to be getting along well. But then EC3 decides to yell out "EC3, Bay-Bay!" with Cole's signature pose. Naturally, a ticked off Cole immediately superkicks EC3 down.

Michael Hutter (born March 18, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. 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 TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

* WildCard: Became this in 2017 with the switch from TNA to GFW, though it was initially portrayed as a straightforward FaceHeelTurn. He hated the new management for looking past his accomplishments or [[{{Kayfabe}} Carter pedigree]] in their loudly-proclaimed quest to "make Impact great", but also didn't take kindly to members of the Wrestling/LuchaLibreAAA roster coming in and declaring their supremacy. Because of this, he's gone from whipping Wrestling/JamesStorm with a leather belt to rescuing Storm from getting his head bashed in with a beer bottle in a fairly short time span.

* EasilyForgiven: Averted hard with his 2016 face turn. He hasn't entirely forgiven Dixie for mistrusting him, and Spud [[FaceHeelTurn hasn't forgiven him AT ALL]] [[RealityEnsues for his previous abuse]].

* MenInBlack: One of Abraham Washington's in FCW, known simply as "Agent D" (for Derrick) or "Agent B" (for Bateman).

* GenreSavvy: Ethan's reaction to Dixie suddenly trusting Jeff Jarrett?
--> "When this [[DevilInPlainSight comes back to bite ya]], don't come crying to me."

'''Michael Hutter''' (born March 18, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. 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 TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

Hutter began his professional wrestling career in 2002, and wrestled for several promotions beginning in October 2006. In July 2006, Hutter signed a contract with Wrestling/{{WWE}}, where he wrestled as '''Derrick Bateman'''. He was assigned to WWE's developmental territories Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with [[Wrestling/{{Fandango}} Johnny Curtis]]. During his time with WWE, he competed in the fourth and fifth seasons of Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} under the tutelage of [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]]. Although he was signed to WWE, Hutter competed in several Independent promotions, winning the AIW Absolute Championship and the Firestorm Pro Heavyweight Championship.

* RealityEnsues: One of the more refreshing aspects of his HeelFaceTurn in 2016. He is still the same wealthy, suave, self-assured 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.

** As [=EC3=] he's called himself "The New Icon of Professional Wrestling", "Wrestling's Greatest Hero", "The Hardcore American Icon", and "[[Wrestling/TripleH The New]] ([[PrecisionFStrike Fucking]]) [[Wrestling/TripleH Game]]".

* {{Catchphrase}}: "I am [=EC3=]. And I'm a Carter. The world needs us!"

* '''{{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 heading into 2016 ended up in a FaceHeelDoubleTurn as described above.

--> '''Crowd chants:''' "You can't wrestle!"
--> '''Ethan:''' "I disagree."
--> '''Crowd chants:''' "You can't wrestle!"
--> '''Ethan:''' "I'm very good."
--> '''Crowd chants:''' "You can't wrestle!"
--> '''Ethan:''' "I disagree."
--> '''Crowd chants:''' "You can't wrestle!"
--> '''Ethan:''' "I'm very good."

* {{Jerkass}} [[JerkJock Jock]]: His gimmick, or at least his name, is clearly a send up to [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball Washington Redskins]] quarterback Robert Griffin III ([=RG3=]).

* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy / [[HenpeckedHusband Henpecked Boyfriend]]: Was this to absurd degrees with Maxine until Kaitlyn and friends woke him up to what was really going on.

* {{Rich B|itch}}astard: And how! Though he's gotten better about it as of late.

* TestosteronePoisoning: Derrick Bateman, natch.
--> "SUBMISSION! WREST-LING!"
** This only makes the fact that Maxine had him so doggedly compliant to her every whim even more disturbing and obviously abusive.

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

--> '''Bryan''': "Now get up. Because you've got a NXT Rookie Reunion Tag Team Match tonight, an I want you to win! And I don't want you to win for me, I want you to win for you! I want you to win for chicks! I want you to win for America! AND I WANT YOU TO WIN FOR [[CheapHeat CLEVELAND]]!"
--> '''Bateman''': "[[LargeHam WAAAAARRRRGHHH!]]"

* TheBadGuyWins: What Ethan Carter III believed in and clearly lived by in TNA for over two years.