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EC3 tweeted the following in response to a video of him, apparently looking rough, heading to the ring for an independent event:
Ain’t no way EC3 fell off this bad…. Shit gotta be AI cuz this can’t be the same dude who carried TNA on his back for a few years pic.twitter.com/jpW9tvWKU4
— ????Elgin Barrett Eugene Smith lll???? (@Southside_Gunn) August 3, 2026
"For actual context: The clip making the rounds is from my second match of the day, after a 4:00 a.m. wake-up, international travel, layover airport cardio, multiple flights, pull-day training upon landing, and an entrance where I’m intentionally selling an already tender leg. Selling. Professional wrestling is built on communicating consequence. If one is beat up, tired, or protecting a body part, the intent is to show it. Travel, disrupted sleep, altered meal timing, hydration changes and hours of sitting also tend to throw your digestive system completely off schedule. Disrupted biology doesn’t care what time bell time is, or if it misses the morning constitutional.
Anyone who’s maintained very low body fat for years knows your physique can change noticeably from one day, even hour to hour, based on perfectly ordinary physiology. Despite my own vanity in maintaining sub-10% body fat at 220-ish pounds, I’m not particularly interested in spending my life proving I’m in shape… (for real.) I’d rather spend that time figuring out how to keep the next generation physically capable, creatively fulfilled, mentally resilient, and confident in themselves than my generation was coached to be. After twenty years of rings, ropes, travel, negative energy, and occasional injuries, I’ve learned plenty through trial and error.
At Exodus Pro we’ve built our training around those lessons: smarter strength, better nutrition, recovery, movement quality, longevity, creative freedom, and positive belief. Because some of us eventually decide to become the people we wished had been there to show us the way. Not because those ideas are trendy, but because I don’t want the people coming after me paying the same physical, creative, or mental price I did just to discover what actually works. That’s where my energy goes. Not into bathroom mirror selfies or internet defense.
As I write this, I’m sitting in another airport on another layover. If anyone needs me, I’ll be at the D Gates getting my steps in, voodoo flossing my ankle, wacky lymphatic movements, and getting ready to do it all over again. Building wrestlers. Building people. Trying to leave this business better than I found it… or until somebody finally kicks my ass."
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