Lio Rush had an interesting run with AEW that started with his debut at the Double Or Nothing pay-per-view in 2021, which marked the first show to feature a full crowd at a wrestling event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His tenure with the promotion didn’t last long, as he became a free agent after his contract with AEW expired in February 2022.
His contract expiring came after Rush spoke out on Twitter regarding a controversial tweet from AEW President Tony Khan on New Year\'s Eve in 2021.
While speaking on the Say Less podcast, Rush was asked if he thought AEW knew what to do with him as a talent when the company employed him.
Lio Rush on his AEW Run
\"Of course not. When I say things, I don’t wanna sound like it was breaking news because I feel like these things are so blatantly obvious. It’s like, yanno, he made it pretty clear to me, verbally, that when he was a fan of me, it was when I was in WWE and I was doing the manager stuff with Bobby [Lashley]. If that’s how he saw me, that’s the only light he sees me in… [then] that’s [probably what] he’s gonna shift me to be in that kind of role. Which I’m not, yanno… I’m so grateful for that time period [in WWE] because it taught me how to talk, it taught me how to present myself and build others up. No, I don’t think that [they] exactly knew what to do with me. That’s always a frustrating thing, but like you said when [I] say stuff it just gets f*cking blown up.”
Since he departed from AEW, Rush has dealt with various injuries. He returned to in-ring action in October and has since competed for promotions such as GCW, PWG, and MLW. Rush was recently announced for NJPW\'s upcoming Super Junior Tag League.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription
