Following the multiple reports that he had heat with WWE officials backstage, Lio Rush spoke with Fightful this week to give his side of the story.
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One of the reports regarding Rush had to do with him reportedly having his wife with him on the road “at all times.” The story said Finn Balor approached Rush about Vince McMahon and other officials potentially being angered by having non-wrestlers around for various rehearsals. Rush said that the story wasn’t true, and that an unnamed backstage official was trying to spread fake rumors about him.
“Me and Finn are cool, and my wife has never been an issue,” Rush said. “There is someone who works for WWE who has hated me since the day I’ve worked for ROH and now that they work for WWE they’re leaking false information to get me released. At a certain point, I have to defend myself so that’s what I decided to do. We’re all human, and we’re all grown ass adults. The kind of s— the flies backstage is ridiculous and I’m surprised more people aren’t speaking up.”
Another story regarding Rush said that he refused to help carry bags and pass out water to wrestlers during a recent European tour (which is customary with new talent).
“It’s not about race and it has never been, but public perception is important to me and when we have fans that travel all over the globe and watch us get off of buses and into hotels, the look of a black kid carrying waters and bags for other wrestlers is just not a good look, especially when I’m trying to portray myself as a superstar as well,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Rush said he’s on the verge of going broke having to pay for rental cars and hotel rooms five days a week while not getting paid for various pieces of merchandise.
The 24-year-old signed with WWE back in June 2017. After a brief run on NXT, he was promoted to the main roster and appeared on 205 Live as a wrestler and on Monday Night Raw as Bobby Lashley’s “hype man.” His last match on television came in mid-March, and he has not appeared alongside Lashley in several weeks.
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