EC3 Defends Booking Austin Aries For Control Your Narrative
EC3 is defending Austin Aries' involvement with the Control Your Narrative promotion after facing criticism for his decision to do business with the controversial former WWE and Impact star.
"He reached out before it was decided that we were becoming a promotion in the sense of having television or live events," EC3 told Chris Van Vliet. "He said 'I dig what you are doing and I would love to be a part of it.' Here is a guy who is a former world champion and one of the best wrestlers in the world. He went away for a long time on a journey of personal discovery, and that is a story worth discovering.
"We had a phone call with him and it felt good. We looked at the ups and downs, and while he has opinions, there is nothing cancellable. It seemed logical and safe, and if I am bringing in a world champion, he can teach the younger generation. He is a leader and a locker room leader, and I respect that. Do I agree with him on everything? Probably not. But I can live with the fact that we have the same vision."
Control Your Narrative held an event earlier this month featuring a new concept for fan involvement called the "Rant Room". EC3 revealed the origins of the unique idea and how fans can still partake even if they do not want to pay for the experience.
"The Rant Room originated because it sounds cool in my mind," EC3 explained. "In the first feature we did I always thought that if we were creating an army of men, there would be this room with a camera, almost like a confessional. They would walk into the room and just rant and get it out. It started as that, but then I am watching social media where people are making all these horrific statements to people I know. There is nothing you can say to me to hurt me, but when it is people I know and have the best intentions, these horrible things are being said that no one would say to their face.
"In essence, maybe I rage tweeted, but I initiated The Rant Room. You can choose 3 minutes in the rant room, pay $100, and say anything to a wrestler of your choice and they can't do anything about it. The backlash we received was because we were using The Rant Room to get money, which I am. But if you want The Rant Room and you don't want to pay a cent, I will give it to you too. You won't do it to people's faces, you are a coward."
In the end, one fan paid $100 to go into the "Rant Room" and wanted to talk to Austin Aries. EC3 recalled what that time was like in the small space.
"Yeah, so we were in Orlando and someone asked me if The Rant Room was real?" EC3 recalled. "I said it was and they asked to talk to Austin Aries. I said 'sh*t! OK, I don't know if he is here.' The one problem is that The Rant Room was initially just meant for me, and bringing other people into my insanity was not the best choice, but those that support it were behind it.
"So Austin agrees, we find the guy and I bring them into the room. For those 3 minutes, all the fan did was talk about how good of a wrestler Austin Aries was and how much he respects him. After a while, the fan said 'I wish you would just stop tweeting your opinions so much.' Austin asked why and the fan had no justification. I'm like I think this is good. What I learned is that face to face, different opinions can find common ground and peace, and maybe that is what The Rant Room is for."
Control Your Narrative will hold a live event in Dallas on Thursday, March 31. It will be a taping for a new series that will be shown on Pro Wrestling TV, which will launch in April.
h/t to Chris Van Vliet for the transcription.