Ex-AEW Star Says “I Don’t Think They Knew Exactly What To Do With Me”
A former AEW star has explained why he thinks the company wasn’t exactly sure how to use him prior to his somewhat acrimonious departure.
Lio Rush joined AEW back in September 2021 after earlier appearing at the company’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view that May. He quickly formed a team with Dante Martin of Top Flight but Rush’s AEW career was not long for this world.
Tony Khan issued a controversial tweet as he addressed comments made by Big Swole which resulted in Lio Rush essentially publicly calling out his boss on social media. Ultimately, his contract wasn’t renewed in February 2022 and he left the promotion.
Speaking on the Say Less podcast, Lio Rush responded when asked if he thought AEW knew how to best utilise his talents in the company:
“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, y’know, 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, y’know… 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.”