Lio Rush has been in the news a lot over the last few days. It was reported that the “Man of the Hour” had a great deal of backstage heat within WWE after an incident with Intercontinental Champion Finn Balor. It was then reported that Lio’s heat was so strong backstage that there are talks of moving the cruiserweight back to NXT.
Lio has spoken to Fightful about his work with Bobby Lashley and said that his pairing with the former Intercontinental Champion allowed him to evolve as a performer:
“My issue has never been with Bobby (Lashley). Being with Bobby has helped the both of us out tremendously. It’s given me speaking confidence I didn’t know i had. I never was a promo guy on the indies. But being with Bobby made me a promo guy”.
Rush said that his frustrations within WWE do not stem from how he is treated on TV, but rather how he is treated backstage. Rush would go on to explain the financial strain he is under whilst working “in the biggest sports entertainment industry that there is”:
“My issue isn’t with my on screen role. My issue is the fact that I haven’t been on meet & greets with Bobby, haven’t been getting paid for merchandise for us that has my catchphrases on them. (I) have been sent to live shows and TVs and forced to pay for my own rental for 5 days as well as hotel while not making enough money to do so. Walking around broke in the biggest sports entertainment industry that there is while having two kids and a wife to support.”
A report was released last week that said some of Rush’s heat was stems from a European tour in 2018 where Rush was accused of not “paying his dues” after refusing to carry water for the veterans on the tour. However, Rush commented on this as well, and explained why he made the choice not to follow the protocol:
“It’s not about race and it has never been, but public perception is important to me and when we have fans that travel all over the globe and watch us get off of buses and into hotels, the LOOK of a black kid carrying waters and bags for other wrestlers is just not a good look, especially when I’m trying to portray myself as a superstar as well”
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