WWE Announcer Apologizes After Insulting Lio Rush’s Retirement Announcement

Former WWE and AEW star Lio Rush announced on Wednesday that, after suffering an injury in his debut for All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing, the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion is retiring from the business at Age 26. Greg Hamilton, one of WWE’s ring announcers, made the shocking decision to respond to the announcement by retweeting the news and writing, “Wow…..unreal….. if we all didn’t have our own lives and families to take care of I just might pretend I give an [expletive emoji.] (On behalf of the wrestling family and community who work for a living) On to the gym [eye roll emoji].

On Thursday, after deleting the initial tweet, Hamilton released multiple apologies. On Twitter, he wrote, “I can admit when I’m wrong….and I was wrong. We don’t have to see eye to eye backstage; but Lionel Green (Lio Rush) is an incredible father as well as a talent. I have all the respect in the world for that. No one made me type this. Just owning my mistakes. He’ll be missed.”

Over on Instagram Hamilton directly tagged Rush in a post and wrote, “nothing but respect…. we all go through our own journeys and I wish you well on your next one. Talent AF, a caring father and possibly misunderstood at times, even admittedly by ME. Never felt a mutual respect backstage, but I respect you as a father and as a man.”

Meanwhile, AEW president Tony Khan released his own statement to Rush — “Lio Rush reached out to me today, and he shared that he’d planned to announce his retirement from pro wrestling tonight. While this news was unexpected, I’m glad that he’s made a choice that he’s confident will make him and his family happy. Lio is a great talent, and I enjoyed briefly working with him, and I absolutely wish him the best.” Khan confirmed in the post-show press conference at Double or Nothing that Rush was on a handshake agreement when he first arrived in AEW. Since departing WWE, Rush had also worked for Lucha Libre AAA, MLW and NJPW Strong.