In an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Lio Rush said that he wasn’t making money in WWE during his time as the manager of then-Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley.
Rush’s WWE Run
Rush recounts that while he was traveling with Bobby Lashley, he noticed that while they were making the same cities and doing the same press events and shows, he wasn’t making the kind of money that Lashley was making.
Below is a transcript of this particular discussion via Sportskeeda.
“I remember being on the road with Bobby [Lashley] and at the time Bobby was the Intercontinental Champion. He was all over the place. He was at all the signings and meet-n-greets, all the live shows and everything. I wasn’t making the money that Bobby was making.”
“I remember being on a tour in Canada. And remember looking at my bank account. I say I can’t do it anymore. It doesn’t make any sense. I’m losing money. I just can’t afford to do this anymore. Because I’ve kids, I have a wife and I’ve responsibilities.”
Lio Rush also went into how he tried to get a pay raise or a role that would make the lack of pay worth it from WWE owner Vince McMahon. However, he found it difficult to get face time with the chairman.
For timeframe purposes, Rush was paired with Lashley between September 2018 and WrestleMania 35 in April 2019. After that, he was taken off WWE television until that September when he returned to the NXT brand.
He was instantly put in the Cruiserweight title picture and would take the championship from then-champion Drew Gulak in October. He says that being a champion didn’t help his bank account either.
After losing the title to the rising Angel Garza two months later, things returned to a directionless approach for the current AEW talent. He was eventually released in April 2020 and would take on dates during the second half of the year with appearances in New Japan, All Elite Wrestling, and Major League Wrestling.
A Revelation in the Lio Rush-WWE Saga
The story of Rush falling out with WWE is nothing new. Things began to trickle out with reports of attitude problems—similar to Keith Lee’s current situation. Even then, we heard that cash and creative were two of his main issues with WWE due to how he claimed he was putting out more just in regards to travel and lodging.
On WWE’s side of the coin, it was his attitude towards agents and veteran wrestlers. The revelation here is that it was seeing Lashley’s pay compared to his own when they were a package at the time.
Of course, wrestlers’ value is based on how much of a star they are or their potential. WWE probably didn’t see as much value or potential in Lio Rush as it saw in Bobby Lashley who had returned in April 2018.
Overall, this becomes a chicken and the egg story. It’s one thing to have attitude issues in a company. That points to not being a team player—until we see which came first: Rush’s attitude problems or Rush requesting a pay raise and a better creative direction.
It’s not rare for someone to request a pay raise after being a problem backstage but the overall story is painted differently if he made his requests, nothing shook out, and he curdled on being in WWE.
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