5 Indy Stars you didn't know were in WWE
WWE has for the last 20 years been the biggest game in town since the collapse of WCW. Independent companies have long been around to provide talent for future WWE use and also benefit from the WWE developmental system. NJPW, ROH, CZW and even Impact Wrestling have stars who were once in the WWE that you may not have known of. This list takes a look at those stars and what they were doing before their current runs.
#5 EC3 - Ethan Carter III
For 6 years, EC3 performed in OVW and FCW (the WWE developmental territories) as Derrick Bateman, and then went on to participate in the 4th and 5th seasons of NXT (when it was still a game show). Teaming with Johnny Curtis (Fandango) and his NXT mentor Daniel Bryan, Bateman was used mainly as a feeder wrestler for stars such as Ryback and Alberto Del Rio on both NXT and Smackdown. Once NXT changed into the brand we know today, Derrick was almost always on the losing side of matches versus the likes of Cesaro, Ohno and Big E.
Once released from his WWE contract, Bateman reinvented himself as Dixie Carter's nephew in TNA (Impact) and within 2 years would be the TNA World Heavyweight Champion.