Lio Rush knows the importance of branding and character development in wrestling.
Rush is regarded as one of the best in-ring workers in wrestlers with athleticism that tops most wrestlers in the business. But he's also cultivated a personality, whether acting a mouthpiece for Bobby Lashley on Raw, becoming Moneyweight Lio, or taking to outside ventures like The Challenge and his rap career.
Lio wants others to realize there is more than just cool moves and wants fans to see wrestlers as more than just "cool match" wrestlers.
"Even though the business is evolving and things are becoming more transparent for the fans and a lot of people appreciate the athleticism and in-ring ability, our character development is still super important. It helps with branding outside of wrestling and helps with wrestlers becoming superstars. I feel like WWE Superstar meant something back in the day because guys were larger than life. They walk into an airport or store, people would go nuts. Now, guys walk into stores, fans pass by, and are like, 'I loved your match the other day, what was that move you did?' Nobody is starstruck anymore. People just want to say, 'You had a good match.' I'm trying get back [character development and larger-than-life characters]," Lio said on The Cash Shit podcast. "Branding and character development is such an important thing, especially in this day and age with social media being a thing. Especially with wrestlers not taking advantage of their social media platforms and having that self-branding and not capitalizing on being on TV. A lot of people just post wrestling clips of matches and not do promos. That's a huge thing for me."
Lio is currently thriving in the world of wrestling as he's the reigning AAA World Cruiserweight Champion and MLW Middleweight Champion.
He recently appeared on MTV's The Challenge as well.
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