Lio Rush discusses all things AEW!
After first appearing for the company at the Double or Nothing 2021 PPV, Lio Rush officially signed with AEW in September. His most prominent story involved managing Dante Martin and feuding with Team Taz over the young-star's services.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Lio shared how it felt to have Tony Khan court him and make a point of complimenting him and saying he wanted Lio to be part of his company.
"It's always a cool thing when you have somebody passionate about what you love doing," Lio began by saying. "Tony is clearly, incredibly passionate about professional wrestling. A lot of his excitement bounces off people and his energy is very contagious when it comes to wrestling. It's cool to have a boss that thinks of wrestling in that aspect. When it comes to me in particular, it was a nice feeling to have someone with that much influence and power say, 'this guy is good and I want him as part of my company.' That's such a compliment, a really cool compliment. I'm super appreciative of that."
Not only is Rush a featured character on AEW television, but he will also play a major part in the upcoming NJPW Strong tour which starts 2022 in Seattle, Washington. When it comes to working with other companies, Lio acknowledges that Tony Khan is happy to let them do business as long as it doesn't conflict with AEW's schedule.
"It doesn't come up in conversation a lot. You see so many people within AEW work all these other places and it's just where we are at in wrestling. It's exciting times. you're seeing so many people pop up in different places and you never know who is going to show up where, announced or unannounced. The fans are so excited about wrestling. A show can be sold out already without even having to name particular people and you could be going to that show and see somebody show up. That's super cool. It's pretty well-known that Tony is excited about his pool of talent and as long as we're being safe and doing good business, then it's good business for AEW. It doesn't come up a lot. It's just, 'Hey, I have this show coming up, is this cool?' 'Yeah, as long as it doesn't run into anything.' It's exciting," Rush said.
Finishing up, Rush talked about his AEW deal and explained how it's important for his mental health to have the freedom to work in various places.
"I got offered a deal initially and things happen, things change, the world of wrestling has changed. I will say this, this is no secret, this is me pointing out the obvious; I'm a lone wolf. I go where I want, I like putting things on my resume and I like working different places and wrestling anybody and everybody. We've seen that since I left WWE. I've been to AAA, MLW, AEW, New Japan. (My independence) is very important. It's very important for my mental stability. I never really like being stuck in one spot, especially if I don't have control over that," Rush said. "This is the time's we are in with wrestling right now and it's a beautiful thing that you can have someone be signed here, but also work there and signed to multiple deals, but still be able to pop up. We just saw Mickie James get announced for the Royal Rumble, that's incredible. It's no secret. I'm on a deal with AEW, but I'm also on a deal with New Japan. I'm also doing my own things back at home. It's pretty open-ended and it's exciting."
Rush has not competed on AEW programming since the December 8 episode of Dynamite where he took part in the Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royal.
Lio Rush competed at this past weekend's NJPW Strong tapings in Seattle.