If it was up to Heath Slater, 3MB would have looked very different.
Appearing on the Such Good Shoot podcast, the former WWE Superstar spoke about his 2012-formed faction and how it evolved from his one-man band gimmick. According to Slater, Vince McMahon always hated his accent and even tried to get him to change it. It took some convincing, but the boss eventually got on board with Heath's all-inclusive musical idea. Here is what he said:
"So with 3MB, the story with 3MB is that I was doing the whole one-man band. Vince just hates my accent. He wanted me to go to vocal classes and try and change my accent. All this shit. I'm like, 'Vince, bro, baby, this is me.' I didn't even try if I'm being honest. I just started talking a little slower. He wanted me to be the one-man band -- no it was the one-man-rock band, the one-man southern rock band, the one-man country band. I don't know. He had me doing so much stuff to where I was like, 'Can I just be the one-man-band?' It covers everything and he was like, 'Yeah, I like that.' So I ran with it."
After floundering on his own for a stretch, Slater began pushing harder for some bandmates to join him. When asked if he had anybody in mind, he said the following:
"Ran with it for a while and then it wasn't going anywhere, ran its course, so I was like, 'C'mon, I need a band now.' I've been a one-man band, let me have a band, but they're just like, 'Who are you thinking?' So I pitched Ambrose, Fandango, and EC3. This is before any of them were on TV. Fandango and EC3 were all on like NXT Season three or something. So I pitched for those three. They were like, 'Oh, okay, let me get back with you.' This is Michael Hayes the whole time I'm talking with. So a month goes by, nothing. I'm like, 'Hey, baby. What the hell man, I need this band.' He's like, 'I got you, don't worry.' Probably about another two weeks went by, he comes up to me, he's like, 'You're getting your band, baby! You're getting your band.' I'm like, 'Hell yes! Is it who I pitched?' He's like, 'No.' I said, 'Hold on.' I said, 'Ambrose?' He's said, 'No, we got something for him,' and of course it was The Shield. I was like, 'What about Dango?' He's like, 'No, we got something for him.' So it was Fandango, the dancing thing. Then I was like, 'What about EC3?' You know, it's Hunter at the time, 'No, no. Not him.' I'm like, 'Shit. Why not?' Then they just fire him. I'm just like, 'What the hell?'"
Upon learning that 3MB would consist of himself, Drew Mcintyre, and Jinder Mahal, Slater says he thought it was a joke at first.
"Then he's like, 'Don't worry, don't worry, you'll love it.' I was like, 'Who is it?' He said, 'It's not a hundred percent yet, but it's going to happen tonight.' I'm like, 'What do you mean?' I'm just getting strung along. So he comes back to me and he's literally like, 'Alright man, it's settled. You're going to do it when you wrestle Tons of Funk or something.' I was like, 'Alright, well who's in the band?' He was like, 'Jinder and Drew.' I just was literally like, 'What?' He was like, 'McIntyre and Mahal.' I said, 'What the hell.' I said, 'That sounds like a bad joke, man.' A Scottsman, an Indian, and a Redneck walk into a bar. Bro, when he first told me that I said, 'Drew's going to be pissed, man.' Because Drew always wants to be that bad-ass serious dude. You know, he legit is. He wants to be that dude. It was one of those things to where literally we were good friends outside of wrestling, you know, first off, and then it was we're travelling the road together. We're buddies, we should make the best of this shit. Jinder's that guy where he'll be like [brushes his shoulder], 'Alright man, let's go. Let's try this.' Drew on the other hand was more like pulling teeth a little bit. But we finally got him comfortable and he was like, 'Well, I always wanted to be a rock star and a wrestler, so might as well do both.' So he got on board with it, but still man, we were the first three-man group. Then New Day, then Shield. We started that shit. They copied us [laughs]," Slater said.
3MB lasted for nearly two years but was disbanded after Mahal and McIntyre were released by the company on June 12, 2014. Both men have since returned to the company, while Slater has moved on.
Last year, Heath debuted for IMPACT Wrestling at their Slammiversary PPV. He has been out of action since October 2020 with an injury. He recently provided an update on his health. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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