EC3 missed significant time before his WWE release in 2020, later revealed to be a concussion.
In speaking with Fightful, EC3 revealed that he sustained concussions during his WWE developmental days, later in NXT in 2018, but that wasn't the end of it.
"When I was called up in, I guess it was the end of 2018, maybe early 2019, I suffered a second one within three months in NXT. But, then there was a mass call up and I was part of it. But, I was called up when I had it and it was like, ‘I’m getting called up and I’m injured. This sucks.’ But, any time I’ve been injured physically it wasn’t, ‘How long do I need to rest to be healthy.’ It was, ‘How long do I need to get back.’ So, with that it was the same thing. I’m getting called up. It’s all I’ve ever wanted in my life. This is the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for. There’s gotta be a purpose to this. I’m going to be ready. I run back, you know how the run goes. It’s whatever. But, then mid-2019, maybe later like July, I suffered another one. But, I didn’t notice I had it until it was kinda too late. One day I showed up and I was not myself, fish white. If I’m not tanned, something’s wrong. So, I’m fish white, I feel awful. Someone mentioned, ‘You don’t look good,’ and I kind of tell them, ‘This happened, this happened.’ I had to do the test. ‘Okay, you’re not cleared.’ But, this one took forever ot get back. ‘Cause it’s such a weird injury, they’re so speculative. Plus, having a few, they’re harder to recover from. So, there was a nice five to six month period suffering this that as physically debilitating as it was, it was more mentally debilitating and there was mental changes that were very hard to fathom, they were very hard to overcome. Personal turmoil. Everything sucked and there was a change in personality and it wasn’t great," EC3 told us.
The concussions came and passed, and EC3 was ready to return to the ring. In WWE at least, it wasn't meant to be.
"So, eventually I got over that. Finally was able to be cleared and that was right before March. ‘Maybe after WrestleMania something will happen.’ Well, instead, ‘The world is shutting down and you’re fired.’ Okay, that’s fine. But, I didn’t do anything to get back ‘til after that. So, it’s almost, ‘I don’t know if I can do this still.’ The first time I wrestled was the original Narrative. So, there were worries and apprehensions, especially because I’m not under the fine medical care of anybody anymore. I’m kind of on my own, but enough time has passed. I healed up, I did the proper things and was okay. So, yeah," he stated.
You can see our full interview with EC3 at the top of the page, and check out his official website at this link. He's in action Friday, December 18 against Jay Briscoe at ROH Final Battle.
