I think people may be underestimating the extreme change of lifestyle and jumping to that conclusion, somewhat lazily. And for Wes to be so hated on the show, it's really no surprise that several of the enemies he has made would say such.

Early on, Wes was young and just out of school, and I'm pretty sure he described himself as already being an "amateur bodybuilder" or something to that effect on RW: Austin. His "life" during these shows early on was to eat, sleep and work out to be competitive on the show, which also resulted in some stardom and publicity, obviously. I mean, it's still the life others like Bananas is living today.

Nowadays, he has readily admitted for several seasons that he has not worked out in years. I remember him saying it in a podcast after Rivals III, which was 3 years ago at this point, and obviously the last time he even remotely resembled old Wes was on the first Rivals back in 2011. So you're looking at a a minimum of 5-6 years since he has done any sort of training (if you are to take his word for it).

Anyone who even remotely casually follows him on social media knows that he is extremely invested in his entrepreneurial job and home life (dog, fiance, etc.) so it's not like it's just BS when he says training/athletics have taken a back seat to his regular life. I think we all know he keeps doing the shows for the opportunity/thrill of it, not to be hyper-competitive like the old days.

Yes, I know he was big early on, but I don't think it's that unfathomable that it was natural considering the two extremes.