Michael Hutter (born March 18, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Ethan Carter III (or simply EC3). He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and has also been working with Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW). He is also the owner of the independent promotion Exodus Pro Wrestling.
Hutter began his professional wrestling career in 2002, and began wrestling for the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) promotion in 2007. In 2009, he signed a contract with WWE, where he competed as Derrick Bateman. He was assigned to WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Johnny Curtis. Under the name of Derrick Bateman, he competed in the fourth and fifth seasons of NXT, a program where rookies were paired with pros.
Hutter left WWE in May 2013 and then signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), working with the promotion as Ethan Carter III (often shortened as EC3), the storyline nephew of TNA's owner Dixie Carter. He won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship twice and the Impact Grand Championship once. He returned to WWE in January 2018 under the EC3 ring name, competing in NXT, before making his main roster debut in early 2019, where he held the WWE 24/7 Championship four times. His second tenure with WWE ended in April 2020, after which he started his own promotion, Control Your Narrative (CYN), which would merge with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 2022, leading to his signing with the promotion and would go on to win the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship once. He departed NWA in 2026 and returned to TNA that same year.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2002–2009) Hutter was trained by J-Rocc in Cleveland and by Rip Rogers and Al Snow in OVW.
Hutter began his career in Cleveland wrestling regularly for several promotions in the Ohio region after making his debut. He wrestled for Pro Wrestling Ohio, making his debut on episode nine of the television show, as an ally of M-Dogg 20, under the name the "Deviant" Michael Hutter. He immediately began feuding with Josh Prohibition and Johnny Gargano and in the main event on episode 13 he teamed with Jason Bane to defeat Prohibition and Gargano. He made his final appearance for the promotion on episode 16, losing to Prohibition in a match to determine the participants in a match for the PWO Heavyweight Championship.
On June 27, 2007, Hutter appeared at a Derby City Wrestling show in Louisville, Kentucky, where he teamed with Osiris to defeat The Belgian Brawler and Apocalypse in a dark match. On December 9, 2007, Firestorm Pro Wrestling held its inaugural show Destroy Erase Improve, which saw the start of a six-man round robin tournament, in which Hutter competed. The tournament lasted nine months, before ending on September 12, 2008 at Something to Die For. That same show, Hutter won a six-man elimination match to become the inaugural Firestorm Pro Heavyweight Champion. Hutter made his last appearance with Firestorm Pro Wrestling on December 13, 2008, when he vacated the Firestorm Pro Heavyweight Championship, which he later awarded to John McChesney when McChesney won a four-way match for the vacant championship.
Ohio Valley Wrestling and early WWE appearances (2003, 2006–2007) On April 14, 2003 Hutter appeared at the Heat tapings prior to Raw as Mike Hunter, where he was defeated by Rodney Mack.
On July 24, 2006 he appeared again at Heat, where he teamed with Chris Cronus in a loss to Viscera and Charlie Haas. He also appeared on Raw in August 2006, as a police officer with Shane McMahon who were to arrest D-Generation X.
Hutter made his Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) debut on the March 27, 2007 television tapings, where he lost to Tony Braddock in a dark match using his real name. The following week, he lost to Mike Mondo in a dark match, before changing his ring name to Mike Hutter. He competed in several more dark matches before the television tapings, teaming with Nick Nemeth and Chris Cage in a loss to Mike Kruel, Vladimir Kozlov and Boris Alexiev in a six-man tag team match, before losing to Mondo again. On the April 25 television tapings, Hutter teamed with TJ Dalton and Jamin Olivencia in defeat to Pat Buck, Johnny Punch and Braddock, before losing to Del Electrico in a dark match on the May 2 tapings. Throughout May, he went on to lose to Anthony Polaski (a renamed Tony Braddock) in a dark match and Dan Rodman, and on the May 23 tapings, he was attacked by Kruel, Kozlov, and Mr. Strongo. In his final OVW appearance in June, Hutter competed in a gauntlet match to earn a match against then United States Champion, Montel Vontavious Porter, but the match was won by Chet The Jet.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2009–2013)
Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2010)
Hutter made his Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) debut on February 9, 2009, as Mike Hutter, when he lost to Drew McIntyre. On February 19, he changed his ring name to Derrick Bateman, and gained Abraham Washington as a manager as he teamed with Lennox McEnroe in a loss to Scotty Goldman and DJ Gabriel. On the February 26 television tapings, Hutter, Washington, and Tristan Delta lost a dark match to Brett DiBiase, Maverick Darsow, and Tank Mulligan. In March, he and Dylan Klein lost to Kafu and Sweet Papi Sanchez. In April, he became known as Agent D, as part of Washington's Secret Service stable, alongside Agent T and Agent J. He reverted to his Derrick Bateman name in June, in a loss to DJ Gabriel.
On March 23, 2009 episode of RAW, Hutter acted as a cop to arrest Triple H after he invaded Randy Orton’s house in storyline.
After a hiatus, Bateman returned to FCW in 2010, teaming with Adam Henderson in a loss to The Rotundo Brothers (Bo and Duke). In March, he lost to Richie Steamboat and Joe Hennig in singles competition, and to Johnny Prime, Orlando Colón, and Incognito as part of a six-man tag team match, before defeating Rudy Parker. He went on to lose to Skip Sheffield, Percy Watson, Mason Ryan, Wes Brisco, and Eli Cottonwood over the next several months. In mid-2010, he formed a tag team known as The Handsome Man's Express with Leo Kruger, and the pair unsuccessfully challenged Los Aviadores (Hunico and Epico) for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on July 2. The Handsome Man's Express disbanded as a team shortly afterward, with Kruger defeating Bateman in a singles match on July 29. On August 12, 2010, Hutter teamed with Johnny Curtis to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship by defeating the team of Donny Marlow and Brodus Clay and the defending champions, Los Aviadores in a three-way tag team match. They went on to successfully defend the championship against Los Aviadores, Clay and Marlow, and The Dude Busters (Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta). After a near three-month reign, Bateman and Curtis lost the championship to Wes Brisco and Xavier Woods on November 4.
NXT (2010–2013) During the finale of season three of NXT, it was announced that Bateman would be part of the fourth season, with Season 1 alumnus Daniel Bryan as his mentor. He made his in-ring debut on the December 7 episode of NXT, teaming with Daniel Bryan in a loss to Conor O'Brian and his Pro Alberto Del Rio. He had his first singles match on the December 14 episode of NXT, but lost to Alberto Del Rio via submission. For the next months, he participated in various challenges. Bateman made it to the final three competitors, but was eliminated on the February 22 episode of NXT. He then returned on the March 1 episode of NXT, competing in a tag team match with Conor O'Brian defeating the team of Byron Saxton and Jacob Novak. While competing on NXT, Bateman appeared in pre-taped vignette on Raw as a scientist with the "Bateman Institute" advertising a fictional Mark Henry cologne. He also made his SmackDown debut with Damien Sandow, who refused to fight him. Bateman wrestled his debut match against Ryback and lost.WWE – SMACKDOWN – 04/05/12 – Damien Sandow Debut ???? but.... (English)
After a period of absence from WWE programming, Bateman was inserted into the fifth season of NXT as a rookie midway into the competition, returning on the June 28, 2011 episode of NXT Redemption and bringing back his pro Daniel Bryan in the process. Meanwhile, Bateman's character began to show more villainous traits, eventually causing Bryan to abandon him after declaring that Bateman was making a fool out of himself. In July, Bateman started a long feud with Titus O'Neil that lasted until November, as both of them frequently traded wins and losses in a series of matches. In August, Maxine made her return to NXT as Bateman's girlfriend, and she started a concurrent feud with O'Neil's friend AJ. Bateman and Maxine lost to O'Neil and AJ on the September 6 episode of NXT Redemption. On the October 26 episode of NXT Redemption, Bateman proposed to Maxine, who accepted the proposal after slapping and kissing him. On the November 2 episode of NXT Redemption, Bateman and Maxine became known as "Beta-Max", and they participated in a six-person tag match along with JTG in a loss to O'Neil, AJ and Percy Watson.
On the November 9 episode of NXT Redemption, Maxine revealed to Bateman that she and his former friend Johnny Curtis went on a date, and they later tag teamed together in a winning effort against the team of Titus O' Neil and Percy Watson. On the December 7 episode of NXT Redemption, Bateman defeated Johnny Curtis in singles competition, turning face once again, and afterwards broke up with Maxine thinking he flirted with her mother. After Bateman again defeated Johnny Curtis in a singles match on the December 28 episode of NXT Redemption, Maxine again turned on Bateman, thinking he was trying to ruin her career, kissing Curtis and leaving with him. The next week on the January 4 episode of NXT Redemption, Bateman lost in singles competition to Darren Young after a distraction from Johnny Curtis and Maxine announcing that they're getting married in Las Vegas. On the 100th episode of NXT Redemption, Bateman interrupted Johnny Curtis and Maxine's wedding ceremony by showing a security camera video clip in his locker room of Johnny Curtis stealing Bateman's iPad and sending an email to Theodore Long about getting rid of Maxine and going to SmackDown, and was later reunited with Maxine.