Lio Rush is in the crosshairs of The Hurt Business. This past weekend at AEW WrestleDream, Rush announced that he had signed a new contract with All Elite Wrestling, making himself an official member of the roster again for the first time since early 2022. Seconds later, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion was interrupted by MVP and Shelton Benjamin, the former of which asked about his availability for the following Wednesday. That question was posed in an effort to book Rush to face Benjamin in Benjamin’s AEW debut.
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“We’ve never shared a ring together,” Rush told ComicBook ahead of his AEW Dynamite match against Benjamin. “We have been in the same locker room. We have seen each other in passing.”
While Rush and Benjamin are strangers inside the squared circle, Rush is very much familiar with the Gold Standard’s body of work.
“Shelton to me is an absolute legend, hands down. I remember watching him on television when I was younger, a lot younger. I hope he feels old with me saying that,” Rush continued. “Swerve [Strickland] said it best: without Shelton, a lot of us wouldn’t be here. He was so innovative, so creative, so athletically gifted in his own right. I look at myself as someone who can pave the way for someone who looks like me, moves like me, has the same mentality as me. I want to accomplish everything that he did and more.”
While MVP neglected to hand Rush one of his business cards, speculation has run wild that the Man of the Hour could be recruited into his AEW-based Hurt Business revival.
“I don’t know, man. I don’t really know MVP,” Rush said. “I know we’ve got some mutuals, but I don’t know him. I’m a little wary. He’s got a good business mindset, but his business might be a little different than how I conduct business. There might be a little clash there.”
The biggest mutual that they share, both literally and figuratively, is Bobby Lashley. The All-Mighty was managed by Rush in WWE from late 2018 until mid-2019 before he linked up with MVP in 2020, reforming a union that they previously had in TNA in the mid-2010s. Lashley reportedly signed with AEW a couple of weeks ago and is expected to make his debut imminently.
“I never thought that I’d see Bobby again. If that does happen, I have no idea what I would do,” Rush said. “I have no idea what I would say. Don’t know if I’d hug him or punch him in the face. But it’s cool, it’s really cool, just the path that I’m going on is cool. I hope that if he does come, I hope he gives me a call. He still has my number. I know I still have his. I just like a little heads up. I know that Shelton and MVP aren’t going to tell me.
“Nonetheless, I’m glad that we’re all on screen together. I’m glad that the fans are excited to see it,” Rush added. “This is something that I never thought that would happen. I never thought that I’d have to cross paths with MVP and Shelton Benjamin. Things are going to get interesting for sure. MVP’s already starting to push my buttons.”
Rush takes on Benjamin on AEW Dynamite tonight at 8 PM ET on TBS.
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