Mere days before EC3 and Drew Galloway step in the ring to battle for EC3’s TNA World Heavyweight Championship, they touted the passion and opportunity they have in TNA, while both promising to emerge victorious Sunday at Bound For Glory.
EC3 said he feels no pressure going into his title defense at the company’s most prestigious event because he is “completely confident in his ability,” promising a “match for the ages.”
“It’s our company now,” EC3 said during a conference call earlier this week. “We are at the forefront. We are the guys that want it the most … Pressure. You can feel pressure, but I feel nothing but confidence.”
Similarly, Galloway said EC3 and he are “just a couple of guys that love this business.”
“We don’t feel pressure, we feel opportunity and, trust me, we’ll both deliver,” Galloway said.
Both EC3 and Galloway said they can see their match incorporating aspects of a mat classic and a brawl, with EC3 touting a victory with one of his “many finishers.’
Though he debuted with TNA only two years ago, EC3 said he’s exactly where he expected to be.
“(There is) a sense of vindication, a sense of responsibility to deliver,” EC3 said of becoming champion. “I’ve been given this opportunity I have to live up to, and I intend to do that every time I step in the ring.”
And not shying away from a challenge, Galloway said if he wins the TNA world heavyweight championship, he will take it across the world in hopes of becoming “the first modern traveling world champion,” similar to Ric Flair. EC3 challenged that notion, saying it’s his intention to represent TNA globally.
Regardless, the past year, according to EC3, has been an interesting parallel to how events are unfolding now. He said in that time he has become “the megastar I am,” while Galloway made his debut.
Galloway said he “had no goals” of returning to American television so soon after departing from WWE. The man formerly known as Drew McIntyre said he was contacted by TNA and told they were going in a direction to allow younger wrestlers more opportunity. He said the talent is amazing and, “more importantly, it is a wrestling show.”
“I saw the locker room, saw how dedicated everyone was… and I knew right away there was no way this was not going to work,” Galloway said.
Both Galloway and EC3 had stints in WWE, but have furthered their careers in TNA. EC3 said TNA believed in his talents and allowed him to develop as a character.
“Without that forum, I’d just be a forgotten casualty in the wrestling business,” EC3 said.
Galloway, who has been wrestling since he was 15 years old, said he never had a “regular job,” but probably would have had to take one had WWE not signed him as he was completing university. He said he grew up in the states, learning the TV and American styles of wrestling, growing both personally and professionally. Though he didn’t remain in WWE, Galloway said WWE is the reason he was able to get booked after departing, but it was up to himself to reinvent himself.
“(EC3and I are) the kind of guys who we’re, say, not going to fly under the radar… We’re going to make people believe in us,” Galloway said.
EC3 said because Galloway and he have “come from the other side” and had “nothing but positive experiences” in TNA, it’s “hard to fathom, sometimes, the negativity” associated with the company. But, by using their passion and being themselves, EC3 said he hopes people will watch the product “instead of just blindly critique.”
Galloway said the negative comments he has noticed are generally in social media, where people “feel the need to chime in.” But if those people are truly wrestling fans, they should give TNA a chance.
“Just hit the reset button on yourself, and try to give the show a bloody chance… (We’re) just a bunch of people doing best they can,” said Galloway, who noted that the passion emanating from the wrestlers can be felt when fans are close up at a live show.
Similarly, EC3 said the wrestlers – a mix of new talent and veterans – in TNA want to deliver and are “hungry for the opportunity to do it.”
“I take pride in every damn thing I do, and everything I’ve done in TNA I’m proud of,” EC3 said.
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