EC3 has had some time away from the ring.
He's been dealing with a reported concussion that has kept him away from active competition since September. Still in wrestling shape, he's sticking to that by staying in the gym.
When speaking with Fightful about his upcoming Magic City Mania show, "The One Percenter" updated us on his condition.
"I’m always training. I train twice a day. I’m jacked and TAN, lean as hell. I look great. I feel fantastic. he stated. I will say that out of all the physical ailments I’ve had in my career—whether it was a torn bicep, torn ACLs, dislocated patella, herniated discs—coming back from this one was one of the hardest things I had to do. Read into that what you will. But, I have gotten through it and I feel good right now. So, we’ll see what the future holds," he said.
The time off hasn't been all bad. He's started the K5 Network, with fellow WWE Superstars and veterans Drake Maverick, Braun Strowman and Percy Watson, and have Magic City Mania planned for April 2 in Tampa. However, he's not happy how the details of his injury emerged, or even that they did.
"As far as whatever kept me out. You know, this is the thing about media that I was talking about is who reported that? Nobody asked me. Well, you did, and I didn’t tell you why I was out. I was out and then something reported why I was out. But, then the person that reported it never verified it. I’m very easy to find on Instagram or Twitter or e-mail. But, nobody ever reached out and verified it, so that upsets me. But, yeah, I was out. I was injured," he said.
As he mentioned earlier, this was far from the first injury EC3 has sustained in his career. Perhaps the most well-known was a patella injury during his initial WWE run. EC3 joked that he tried to "Mel Gibson" it back in place by stomping it down, which presented an entirely different set of challenges.
Speaking of challenges, the injury took place on Saturday Morning Slam, which prohibited the use of moves to the head or neck because of the young demographic it targeted. For EC3, he embraced the idea, and was already kind of experienced with it.
"I had a great time," EC3 admitted. "First off, I was working Cesaro and he’s one of the best to do it. There’s nothing wrong with having a match that challenges you to not do the things you’re used to doing. Like, I think even in the FCW days we were prepped for it. Not because it was ever the intention that it would go like this, but we would have matches. “Alright, this match you can’t use the ropes.” “This match, no strikes.” “This match, do that.” It just challenges you to do different things and be better. There’s nothing wrong with a challenge and accepting it. If you can’t do something as simple as what they instilled [in] us on Saturday Morning Slam then why you doing this? We’re the best in the world, right? We can pull off anything and change anything and hopefully do it on the fly. So, I enjoyed the challenge. I thought it was cool."
Check out Magic City Mania, Thursday April 2 at the Orpheum, featuring EC3, Braun Strowman, Drake Maverick, R-Truth and more. Proceeds go to benefit the Apple A Day foundation. You can learn more at K5Network.com. You can see our full interview with EC3 at the top of the page.
