Lio Rush further speaks about his time in AEW.
Ahead of his new EP coming out this week, Lio Rush is making the media rounds to promote it and one of the outlets he spoke with was the MuscleManMalcolm YouTube channel.
Rush dove into his run in All Elite Wrestling, specifically the ‘L.B.O. Lio’ persona that he was introduced on TV with. Rush said the persona was ‘a little much’, but he did enjoy exploring a different character and being out of his comfort zone. He said he would’ve tweaked the character by toning down the theatrics.
The L.B.O gimmick was a little much because I’m not like a Wall Street guy or anything like that but, you know, being those kind of business characters or independent businessman or stuff like that, that’s me. That’s what I do outside of wrestling. I’m a businessman, I’m a hustler, you know? So, yeah, I would have taken maybe a different approach to it. I feel like I’m a pretty introverted person. It might not seem like it to a lot of my fans because of the wacky stuff that I do on-camera. But, off-camera, I’m a pretty introverted person so maybe I would have pulled back on the theatrics a little bit, just to feel a little bit more comfortable. But, I enjoyed what I did so far and plus I like being out of my comfort zone, I like experiencing something new and something different and challenging myself so, yeah.
He was asked about the differences between AEW and WWE’s creative working environments. Rush feels that AEW is more loose and free flowing while there is a structure to WWE’s process. Going back to the ‘L.B.O. Lio’ persona, Rush said it would have been nice if there was a more clear direction as to where the character was going.
I think — I mean there was a lot of winging it in AEW. There was a lot of winging it in AEW. I definitely think there was a little bit more structure and me being in on the know of where the character is going [in WWE] and what it’s leading to. I didn’t feel like that in AEW. It was always a guessing game or me trying to figure it out myself, which I don’t mind. I don’t mind but, it would have been nice to have a little bit more of that direction when it came to a character that I didn’t put on myself, you know what I mean? So yeah, that’s about it.
Rush has previously stated that there is no bad blood regarding his exit from AEW and thinks they’ll cross paths again. He spoke more about his departure in this new interview and said he simply felt it was time for him to go. He added that what the majority thinks is the reason for his departure is not the case.
It was more of a feeling more than anything [that led to me departing AEW]. It wasn’t like a specific thing. There’s so much confusion about what happened and you know, the internet is the internet and people are gonna believe what they believe and say what they wanna say but, I think it ultimately came down to a gut feeling that I had within myself of, okay, this probably isn’t the place for me right now and I needed to just step away and like I said, put my focuses on what I really wanted to do and that being my music, that being in the ring. Granted, I got hurt shortly after my departure which is fine, now. Now that I’ve thought about the situation and had time to cope and deal with it and stuff like that. Yeah, I think it was just time for me to step away and I think what transpired at the end, what has everybody confused about why I left, I think because that was what was put at the forefront. A lot of people believe that-that is why I left and which isn’t true. But yeah, that’s pretty much that.
At NJPW Capital Collision, Rush made an on-screen appearance after being away for several months. He clarified that he is not cleared to compete and his doctor thinks he’ll miss the majority of 2022.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit MuscleManMalcolm with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
