Lio Rush describes his time with WWE as being "pretty surreal."
Now a member of the AEW roster, Rush was signed with WWE from August 2017 - April 2020, appearing on everything from NXT to 205 Live to Monday Night Raw. In September 2018, he began serving as the on-screen manager of Bobby Lashley.
Appearing as a guest on a recent episode of Oral Sessions with Renée Paquette, described his rollercoaster journey and how he was always striving to improve and be ready for TV.
"That time permanently stretched my vocal cords," he began by saying. "That was pretty surreal. My whole journey in WWE was pretty surreal. From the point of being signed to me being in NXT for only two matches before I got put up to 205 and I was only in 205 for about four months before I got put up on Raw and I was doing 205 and Raw at the same time. That stemmed from me being in the PC and just wanting to be so ready for TV and asking, I believe Joe Castro, asking him to watch my promo during promo class and he said he would. He was kind of texting while my promo was going on and I saw it in the corner of my eye. I asked him if he watched my promo and he had said, 'Yeah, it was great.' I was like, 'motherfucker, you didn't watch it.' It lit such a fire underneath me. I asked him for some tips he told me that I wasn't ready for TV and I wasn't going to be ready for a while. It was so much going through my head. I was thinking, 'Why am I even signed?'"
Intent on proving any doubters wrong, Rush continued honing his craft until one day he was called to Raw where he met with Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon, individually, and was told about a new role they had envisioned for him.
"I took that moment to say, 'I think I am ready for TV and I'm going to show you that I'm ready for TV.' So, I started cutting promos on my phone every day and I would release a promo every day on Instagram and Twitter and it started catching fire. I was doing it every day until I got moved to 205 and I got a call when I flew back home from 205 saying that I was needed for Raw and sent flight details. I'm like, 'What? I'm needed for Raw?' Of course, they wouldn't tell me what I was doing and I'm backstage when I get there, panicking and I don't know what's going on. Paul Heyman walked up to me and said, 'Vince saw one of your promos that one of the writers showed him from social media and he thought you were great and he wanted to pair you up with Bobby.' I was like, 'Oh man, that's so cool.' I couldn't believe that me taking that initiative to put out promos essentially landed me a job on Raw and it was seen by Vince," Rush said.
Seen as a Jimmy Hart type character in the eyes of Vince McMahon, Rush credits the content of the original promo to Paul Heyman. He concluded by saying the following:
"Vince had pulled me into his office and said that I was going to be working with Bobby and I didn't know what it was going to be. He kept saying 'hype man' and I had never heard of that. He said Paul would talk to me about it. We went into the weight room and he was saying that I would essentially be Bobby's manager but in a way of like Jimmy Hart. I would be loud and wear obnoxious suits and be the mouthpiece for Bobby. It was the most surreal day of my life. That original promo, that was Paul's voice."
By March 18, 2019, Rush and Lashley's partnership had almost completely fallen apart. Off of TV by mid-April, Lio wouldn't return to action until September, but instead of being back on Raw, he went to NXT. During his time in NXT, Rush would capture the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, holding it for just over two months.
Lio Rush can be seen on AEW programming as LBO Lio. He most recently landed Matt Sydal a match with CM Punk on Rampage and has taken great interest in the burgeoning career of Dante Martin.
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