TNA performer Ethan Carter III recently spoke to the folks at WhatCulture.com about his experiences training under former NXT head coach Bill DeMott.
EC3 stated the following about working with DeMott while in the WWE developmental system.
“(Worked with him in WWE developmental) Having been there at that time, I witnessed a lot of it. This industry is extremely difficult and, to achieve success in it, I 100% agree it needs to be hard. It needs to be earned. Preparing for the demands of the industry, both physical and mental, are essential. It requires a special psyche that all may not possess.
Having said that, I feel there is a big difference between a hard-nosed individual pushing you to the limit to become great, and blatant bullying.
It is an unfortunate scenario that transpired, as that position holds great power in many peoples careers and physical well being. I feel that in this day and age, with what we know about concussions, someone being slapped in the head while possibly suffering from one is unacceptable. Asking talent to conceal injuries that your “training tactics” are responsible for is unacceptable. Leading the charge on an anti-bullying campaign, while that very thing is taking place under your watch, is unacceptable.
A company making a statement that the accusations “fully investigated” when they were not, well, that is just is very disheartening.
Then again, it is not my company to run. I don’t know the inner workings. Perhaps I am wrong. Our generation has been labeled “unmotivated and lazy,” which I can’t disagree with more. Some of the hardest working/creative people I know are putting in maximum effort for just an inkling of success.
Saying that this entire group has “a feeling of entitlement and a certain level of defiance” (which has since been recanted) is painting very broad strokes and not looking at individual talent. Plus, I believe it was a “level of defiance” that made people like Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, The Rock, HHH and John Cena some of the biggest stars this industry has ever seen.
In the end, if you believe or enable homophobia, racism, and bullying as coaching methods, we strongly disagree.”
