Chris Van Vliet recently interviewed former WWE/AEW star Lio Rush. Scroll down to listen to the entire interview. Here are some highlights:
Lio Rush on if he would return to WWE:
“I think at a certain point, it would ultimately be up to me whether I want to go that route again or not. I realized that nothing is forever. Being presented with certain opportunities, I truly want to make the most out of them, and I want to do my absolute best to make sure there’s no wasted time, no wasted movement, no wasted effort. Every little thing that I do needs to be a building block to a bigger legacy or a bigger whatever the case may be, to continue to do the things that I want, and to continue to create opportunities for my kids, to be able to do what they truly want. So if spending another 3, 5, or 10 years in WWE to build something bigger than me, then I’ll take that.”
On his relationship with Tony Khan:
“There’s probably a little bit (of animosity). I mean, how can there not be? I like Tony a lot. I really like Tony. I think that’s the first time I’m saying that out loud. Yeah, I can’t take it back now, but I do like Tony and that was one thing that made me so willing to give AEW a chance because I feel like I was scarred from my WWE run. I feel like I was traumatized a little bit. I feel like we connected pretty quickly. There was a lot of emotion involved and I probably shouldn’t have brought the emotion out, but I’m glad that I did. I’m glad that I show people that I stand for something. I’m glad that I show people that I care about myself and I care about others. It’s not always about a paycheck to me. Yeah, I am, I’m sorry, I’m kind of, I mean, this is huge for me, like really, because this is the first time that I’m really, really speaking on it. Like, you know, I’ve talked about it, but I haven’t really, really talked about it in that sense, like with my actual, like, relationship with Tony and stuff like that. I’ve talked to him a few times (since he left AEW). Yeah, we’ve talked a number of times and it’s always great. It’s always, ‘How have you been? Good to hear from you.’ The love is still there. The support is still there. There’s just other factors into me actually being there. I mean, I’m doing so much right now. I’m happy with what I’m doing. It’s not really I’m trying to force something to happen. If it happens, it happens, but I love the direction that I’m going in right now. I love what I’m doing. I’m glad that I feel like I don’t really have any true bad blood within wrestling.”
On coming out of retirement:
“Yeah, I was going through a lot in that time period. I think personally, I was going through a lot on top of the physical injuries that I had, and it kind of just made me put a lot of things in perspective. Just wanted to figure out what I needed to prioritize in my life. I definitely feel like I grew up with a lot of responsibility that someone my age isn’t really, I wouldn’t say supposed to go through, but it’s definitely an interesting situation with me being currently 28 years old.”
On why he came back:
“My family has always been there for me. They always will be there. It will always be my number one priority and the reason why I do what I do. Having more experience in wrestling and having my kids get older, I always say I do this for them now. This is my reason for doing it. You know, before that I was a fan of wrestling. I wanted to become a professional wrestler for me. It was my goal for me. It was what I wanted to do for me. But now with so many people that I love and care for and provide for, I feel like I’m doing this for them.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Also, be sure to subscribe to “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” on your mobile device by clicking here if you have an iOS device or here on your Android device.
