AEW Star Admits Initial Run With Company Was A Disaster

An AEW star is looking to improve on their first run with the company.

Lio Rush returned to AEW in May 2024, three years after his first stint in the company came to an end. Rush has been aligned with Top Flight, Action Andretti, and Leila Grey and it’s since been confirmed he’s re-signed with the company.

Rush’s first AEW run came to something on an unceremonious end in early 2022 after less than a year with the company.

The star was one of the most high-profile voices who criticised AEW President Tony Khan after his public spat with former AEW star Big Swole. Rush initially demanded an apology before claiming he’d discussed the issue with Khan and Megah Parekh.

Rush left the company when his contract expired.

Lio Rush Went Into AEW Run Scared

During an appearance on AEW Unrestricted, Rush reflected on that failed first run with the company, and how he’s changed since then. The star explained that while no one was predominantly to blame for what happened, his 2021 spell was a disaster.

“I think last time, I had a lot of fear. I think I was going into it scared. It almost felt like I was getting another opportunity at being Lio Rush on television, but it almost didn’t feel fair that I had to do it in this way. I was still so young.

I was going through so much during that time, that was during the pandemic so everything outside of what AEW was was obviously going on and it was kind of just a disaster off the jump.

It was nobody’s fault, I think it just was not the right time. I don’t think it was the right time for me, I don’t think it was the right time for AEW to have me right there in the mental state that I was in. It wasn’t fair for both parties.

I’m in a space where I feel confident, I feel a lot wiser, I feel a lot more prepared than I was before and I know what I can bring to the table and I want to offer that. I want to be a part of what AEW is doing and I want to be a part of the people that make AEW what it is. I’m just going into it with a much different mindset, and I think that’s the biggest difference.”

Rush was most recently in action on the October 16th episode of Dynamite where he lost out to Shelton Benjamin.

H/t to Fightful