Impact teases EC3 appearance while EC3 teases ROH appearance

Wild speculation just heated up in the worlds of Impact and ROH.

Impact has been teasing newly signed talent from the pool of WWE releases to appear at their Slammiversary PPV on July 18. At the end of last week’s Impact Wrestling episode, Michael Elgin chatted with a Canadian. Many, myself included, theorized that it could be a return of Team Canada with Eric Young as head coach. Impact executive and former Team Canada coach Scott D’Amore played into that idea as either an obvious hint or a goof on fan speculation.

At the end of the latest Impact show, they revisited the teaser well to announce that at least one former World Champion would return at Slammiversary.

Kurt Angle, Sting, James Storm, and Bully Ray were new images added to the montage of Eric Young, Mike Bennett, Maria Kanellis, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows. Whoever is coming, Impact is hyping it huge with the tagline, “Our world will change,” and by having Josh Mathews say during the broadcast, “Slammiversary promises to be a night that changes the direction, the foundation, and landscape of Impact Wrestling for perhaps years to come.”

EC3 has been the prime candidate for the big name return. While EC3 hasn’t outright said an Impact return is a done deal, he made clear that he won’t be returning as the original rich boy gimmick. That didn’t stop Impact from teasing a future EC3 appearance.

After Moose defended the TNA Heavyweight Championship against Hernandez, Impact played EC3’s old intro music.

In addition, the flashback moment of the week featured EC3 winning the Heavyweight strap from Kurt Angle. This all seems like an obvious statement that EC3 is coming to Slammiversary, right? Not if you ask EC3.

EC3 put out a false flag message about controlling his narrative, and the Ring of Honor logo is clearly displayed in the background.

ROH responded with a thinking emoji. Now the question becomes if Impact’s EC3 teases are the false flag or if EC3’s ROH tease is the false flag. What if the answer is neither?

Time for rampant unfounded speculation on my behalf. What if Impact and ROH are working together for the short-term? What if EC3 is leading an invasion angle? ROH has shown a recent willingness to work with other companies, as evidenced by the inter-promotional feud between Marty Scurll and NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. ROH is currently on hiatus from live shows during the coronavirus pandemic. Having a story with Impact would give ROH wrestlers something to do right now. Impact would benefit from the story hype and lure eyeballs back to their product.

A partnership between Impact and ROH is probably not likely, but it is certainly wild to think about. The most logical explanation is EC3 having fun by mocking the internet and building anticipation for his return as an Impact wrestler.

The other talent tease during Impact Wrestling came from Johnny Swinger with a reference to Vince McMahon being known as Jr. back in the territory days.

What’s your theory about EC3’s promo? Would you watch Impact to see an ROH invasion angle?