EC3, the former Impact Wrestling champion, made his NXT in-ring return last night at one of the small non-televised live event shows in Dade City, Florida.

The 34-year-old wrestled Kassius Ohno in his first NXT match in five years, and came out victorious. EC3 last appeared in NXT in May 2013 using the name of Derrick Bateman. The two had a match against each other that year when they were participating in opposing teams in the NXT Tag Team title tournament.

His last match was against the then NXT champion Big E, a match taped for NXT television.

EC3 will be part of the six-man ladder match at NXT Takeover: New Orleans to crown the new NXT North American champion.

Ec3 sighting confirmed. Crowd goes wild. #NXTDadeCity pic.twitter.com/1KbY7Zxs8B

— Travis Webb (@kmwebbcom) March 9, 2018