During 2021 Tony Khan added to the All Elite Wrestling roster with a number of big name stars. This period saw the likes of Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, CM Punk and more join the company.
Another former WWE Superstar who joined AEW in 2021 was Lio Rush, the star making his debut at Double or Nothing. The first AEW pay-per-view to feature the a full crowd following the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, come February 2022, Rush was already gone from the company after his contract expired.
“Tony Khan Was A Fan Of Me” – Lio Rush
Speaking during an appearance on the Say Less podcast, Lio Rush opened up about his time in AEW. The star claimed that Tony Khan saw him as more of a manager than an in-ring talent, and didn’t really know what to do with him.
“Of course not. When I say things, I don’t wanna sound like it was breaking news because I feel like these things are so blatantly obvious. It’s like, yanno, he made it pretty clear to me, verbally, that when he was a fan of me, it was when I was in WWE and I was doing the manager stuff with Bobby [Lashley].
If that’s how he saw me, that’s the only light he sees me in… [then] that’s [probably what] he’s gonna shift me to be in that kind of role. Which I’m not, yanno… I’m so grateful for that time period [in WWE] because it taught me how to talk, it taught me how to present myself and build others up.
No, I don’t think that [they] exactly knew what to do with me. That’s always a frustrating thing, but like you said when [I] say stuff it just gets f*cking blown up.”
Lio Rush has endured an injury-hit year but recently returned to the ring in October and has since appeared with GCW, PWG, and MLW.
H/t to Fightful