Lio Rush Teases Retiring From Wrestling After WWE Release

Lio Rush was the one of the 30+ active wrestlers to get released by WWE back on April 15. And even [...]

By Connor Casey

Lio Rush was the one of the 30+ active wrestlers to get released by WWE back on April 15. And even though Rush was one of the youngest of the group at 25 years-old, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion is already considering hanging up his boots. Rush took to Twitter on Monday to write, "I legitimately might not ever wrestle again," before teasing a (supposedly) upcoming shoot interview.

Rush, real name Lionel Green, made his wrestling debut in 2014 and climbed up the independent ranks with stints in Ring of Honor and CZW. He signed with WWE in mid-2017 and was briefly apart of the NXT and 205 Live rosters before settling into his role as Bobby Lashley's hype man/tag partner. Following Lashley's loss to "The Demon" Finn Balor at WrestleMania 35, Rush was pulled from television. Reports of him having backstage heat kept popping up, though he'd explain in interviews that it came from misunderstandings about how he felt he should be treated backstage.

"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 in a May 2019 interview.

In September 2019 he returned to WWE television, this time as a babyface for the NXT brand. Less than a month after his return Rush defeated Drew Gulak for the Cruiserweight Championship, and held it for just 63 days before dropping it to Angel Garza. Prior to his release, Rush's last match came in late February on 205 Live.

Outside of wrestling Rush has a passion for music, and his first rap album Ever After is scheduled to drop on May 11.

Do you think Rush is done with wrestling? Let us know down in the comments!

Here's a full list of every wrestler who has been released since April 15:

  • Rusev
  • Drake Maverick
  • Karl Anderson
  • Luke Gallows
  • EC3
  • Curt Hawkins
  • Heath Slater
  • Eric Young
  • Lio Rush
  • Aiden English
  • Sarah Logan
  • Erick Rowan
  • Primo
  • Epico
  • Mike Kanellis
  • Maria Kanellis
  • Zack Ryder
  • No Way Jose
  • Deonna Purrazzo
  • Aleksandar Jaksic
  • MJ Jenkins
  • Dan Matha
  • Alyssa Marino
  • Taynara Conti
  • Nick Comoroto
  • Cezar Bononi
  • Tino Sabbatelli
  • Kassius Ohno (Reportedly)
  • Mohamed Fahim
  • Marcos Gomes
  • Faisal Kurdi
  • Hussain Aldagal
  • Yifeng (Rocky)
  • Cain Velasquez
  • Curtis Axel
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