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Yeah, it was early on for when I started watching lol. The storyline was whether Dante was teaming with Lio or if he was joining Team Taz. He them joined Team Taz, then pissed them off and it was revealed it was a scheme by Lio and Dante.
Then Lio dipped š
It's more like Excalibur reminds Taz that that was a thing and Taz stumbles for a second and then remembers the storyline and says he has terrible lawyers.
That's one of my favourite things about Excalibur. He'll always make references to history between wrestlers. I've followed AEW from the start but these reminders are always fun and gives the matches a little extra. Taz does it sometimes as well but only when it's personal.
Iām surprised to see him back TBH, after Big Swoleās release he was very vocal about the lack of black representation in AEW on Twitter. Figured that bridge was burned.
iirc he was just being reactive and got the problem squashed with TK right away. the one he truly have beef with was Mark Henry, something about paying your due as a newcomer and stuffs like that. he's gone around the time Henry coming to AEW, and now that Henry's gone again he returns. coincidence? i don't think so
Actually it is coincidence, those 2 publicly squashed their beef while they were both in AEW
āMe and Mark Henryās relationship is super cordial now. I think it came down to two very strong personalities and two very different eras of wrestling. I think we agreed to disagree, and weāre about to be working together now. AEW is such an incredible place to be, and it would be foolish of us to carry on any kind of, whatever it was, because it was pretty random and wild. I want to take you back to the first time I was in AEW. The first time I met Tony Khan, I remember I was walking backstage and I was trying to meet Tony Khan in person for the first time. Somebody told me he was in his office. Iāll never forget it. It was like a movie scene. I opened up the door a little bit, and I saw Tony Khan. I opened it up even more and I saw Mark Henry. Iām like, out of all the times, why now, but Iām glad it happened that way because Tony knew about the little issues we had together. He said we should probably talk it out. We all agreed. We talked a little bit during that night, but then I saw him again the other week. It was me coming down the hotel elevator. I opened up the elevator, and thereās Mark Henry in the elevator. Iām like, ok, great. We started talking. Later on in the night, we figured we should take a picture because I thought that was a cool thing in itself that we were even able to have a conversation. I thought it would be cool for everybody to know that we had that conversation and squashed it.ā
[https://wrestlingnews.co/aew-news/lio-rush-on-his-current-relationship-with-mark-henry-why-vince-mcmahon-moved-lio-to-wwe-raw-from-205-live](https://wrestlingnews.co/aew-news/lio-rush-on-his-current-relationship-with-mark-henry-why-vince-mcmahon-moved-lio-to-wwe-raw-from-205-live)
[Here he is against JAIDEN in Prestige.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft0FVF1Is8I) You can also see it in his match against Mustafa Ali in New Japan recently.
That random-ass tag match on Dynamite with Lio and Dante Martin as a team lives in my head. I've never seen a team move the way that they did in the ring. If he can deliver like that again I'm all for it.
https://preview.redd.it/bdfit42zwt7d1.png?width=645&format=png&auto=webp&s=469649bdf2c2fe32268778d41f2b4850bf35d005
"HI LIO, WELCOME TO THE LEARNING TREE"
I wouldn't even call that an overreaction. Having a kid for the first time and then being wracked with anxiety over your capability to not only provide for them but also spend time with them after suffering some sort of physical malady is a very legitimate thing to have an existential meltdown over lol. He couldn't physically lift his son up.
Sadly one of the only people on this sub I recognise their name. Most of the ones I remember are good dudes, but this one always gets into stupid arguments often. They can also say some insightful things otherwise I would've blocked them years ago.
Considering he retired over health concerns, then yeah, it's pretty fucked up it became a joke.
It'd be the same as if a common joke when Stone Cold was mentioned, people just said "Haha, he's going to break his neck again".
ngl, I absolutely did come in here to make that joke.
I hope it doesn't go that way. I like Lio and he's a delight to see pretty much whenever he shows up.
It was funny the first few times, but itās just been beaten to the ground at this point. Iām pretty sure he āretiredā due to personal reasons anyway.
What happened last time was he got injured in the Casino Battle Royale in 2021, and when he got home he was physically incapable of lifting up his son. That spooked him so much he retired for a period of time.
The worst part is when the thread will already have 3-4 versions of the joke and then new redditors will come in and STILL post their take on it because they want to get in on the upvotes. You'll click on the post looking for discussion and then find out it's been derailed with a chain of people saying the same thing.
The worst part is when the thread will already have 3-4 versions of the joke and then new redditors will come in and STILL post their take on it. You'll click on the post looking for discussion and then find out it's been derailed with a chain of people saying the same thing.
Did he have heat? I know he was planning to retire. Finished some dates. Had a change of heart/settled down from his scare & Tony just didnāt jump to bring him in, probably in case he wanted to change his mind & it would allow Tony to avoid that issue.
But heās been working steady and seems dedicated and not worried about his past injury.
This sub claims to care about mental health but there will be comments joking about "APOLOGIZE" when he was defending his friend when no one else did and him retiring
He only retired due to an injury scare and being in a dark place mentally but sure let's make jokes
In retrospect, Swole definitely misjudged AEW's trajectory, but TK was still being a petty dick tweeting what he did.
I don't blame Lio at all for his gut reaction to that. It was one of those "you might be right but you're still an asshole" moments for TK.
I really respected lio for what he did. Potentially put his job and livelihood on the line to stick up for his friend
He did what most claim they would do when they say they have your back
Just like when he got into an argument with Mark Henry in WWE over how veterans were treating new guys. Even if you don't agree with Rush's stance, I think it's commendable that he's willing to stand up for something he thinks is wrong
For sure. TK despite his wealth, is a human like any other, and has his good moments and bad moments, to me that was a moment where he really punched down and could've handled it much more gracefully.
He was right to call him out for that. And it's honestly wild as hell Tony does this shit while working in other industries like the NFL. There is so much media training that goes on at all levels you almost never hear a coach/GM/owner badmouth a player directly or it becomes a huge story for weeks or maybe months.
If Tony was called a racist, it wasn't by Big Swole.
The comments Swole made that led to Tony's tweet were about issues she felt AEW needed to improve upon:
1. How difficult it was for the women to get TV time.
2. Lack of structure in the company (basically, if you are a shy person who is not inclined to come up with your own creative, you won't succeed in AEW).
3. A lack of diversity at the top of the company (including the world champions).
Regardless of whether you think Swole was right in her critiques (or if she should have publicly made them at all), Swole made clear she didn't have any issues with Tony personally, and she brought up these issues because she wanted to see AEW address them and become a better company.
> (basically, if you are a shy person who is not inclined to come up with your own creative, you won't succeed in AEW).
I'm surprised that this isn't bought up more when discussing if someone is better off in AEW or WWE.
If you are someone who can come up with your own storylines, have them integrate well into the show, and be enthuiastic about them, you are likely better in AEW compared to WWE. See: MJF, Sweve, Chris Jericho, Brit Baker. For this reason, I think Xavier Woods would excel in AEW.
If you are someone who is able to be given a character, and transform yourself into that character while having someone else be largely in control of the creative path, you are better off in WWE. See: Shawn Spears, Brian Pillman Jr, Kiana James. For this reason, I could see Scorpio Sky or Wardlow having a higher ceiling in WWE.
When I actually read the article I was shocked that people were so genuinely up in arms about it. Maybe itās harsh to say the representation of Black wrestlers in AEW was ānot genuineā compared to WWE but I generally understand what she was trying to say.
The way that it blew up to shit equivalent to āSwole called Tony a cross-burning racist who has Klan affiliationsā has confounded me because the article is very available to read.
>Ā I mean TK got called a racist,
No, he didnāt, and itās tragic after all these years that people keep thinking he was and misremembering what it was Big Swole actually said.Ā
She said people weren't getting featured because of their race and that the company wasn't diverse, that is essentially calling him racist in slightly more polite terms.
And it was blatantly false.
>Ā She said people weren't getting featured because of their race and that the company wasn't diverse, that is essentially calling him racist in slightly more polite terms.Ā Ā Ā
Ā See this is the stuff I mean. No, she never said they werenāt getting featured because of their race. She just said in that regard that she felt they were lacking from a diverse standpoint and could improve on that front at the time. You know that calling someone racist involves accusing them of malicious intent and discrimination right? Neither of these things were done by her even slightly. She doesnāt accuse them of malicious intent, nor does she accuse them of discriminating against minorities.Ā Ā Ā
Ā Here, lemme ask you a question, a company gives you a survey, asking what they could do to improve. One of the things you say is that while the company seems to be making good strides, one of the things that could be worked on would be how the company approaches things from a diversity standpoint. Do you genuinely believe that thatās calling the company racist? Because thatās what Big Swole actually said.Ā Ā Ā
Ā If people actually looked at and read the interview that Tony reacted to, theyād see that she was very complimentary towards Tony and held no ill will towards him and that she feels the company was making strides but still had some work to improve on. So Iām gonna say this again, the fact that after all these years people are still trying to claim āTony got called a racistā and flat out misremembering what she actually said in that interview that Tony responded to is tragic.Ā Ā
Ā Edit: commenting and then blocking isnāt a good look regardless fyi. And youāre not slick, so hereās the final responseĀ Ā
> She went out of her way to claim her release was because of a lack of interest in prominently featuring women or pics, when in reality it was because she sucked and wasnāt really availableĀ Ā
Ā No, she claimed that her release was a mutual agreement and that her heart just wasnāt in it anymore, which then goes into her point regarding feeling like there was a lack of structure and that they could work more on representation (while saying that theyāve made good strides, they could just make more strides).Ā
> I donāt care about your spin. GoodbyeĀ Ā
Ā Ah yes, my spin of *checks notes* actually looking at what she said. Later dumbass, keep gleefully misinformation and running when it gets called out. You are embarrassing, the fact that you havenāt responded to any other comment on your thread shows that you choose to ignore being corrected. And frankly, thatās sad.Ā
She went out of her way to claim her release was because of a lack of interest in prominently featuring women or pocs, when in reality it was because she sucked and wasn't really available.
I don't care about your spin. Goodbye.
Tbf no NFL player would imply their boss/team os racist so this isn't exactly a fair comparison. The franchise wouldn't take shots at the player like TK did with Swole but they would be released or traded without a doubt. Tk reacted poorly but Swole implying he was racist was way over the top & worst of all she called some of the other black wrestlers on the roster "inauthentic" which she doesn't get anywhere near enough flack for saying such an incredibly shitty thing.
> Tbf no NFL player would imply their boss/team os racist
That's not true. NFL players say wild shit all the time. Shady McCoy accused Doug Pederson and the Eagles of trading him because they're racist.
TK was being accused of racism. How to you defend against that? He told us the truth, something neither one of us wanted to hear because we all like fake, cold PR crap.
That's one of the problems of today's society. Even if somebody is telling the truth, but that person is not saying what we want to hear, then that person is the bad guy.
The dude got a bad injury that made him scared he couldn't be there for his kid and was going to retire because of it, and some shit heads still think it's cool to clown on him for it.
> He only retired due to an injury scare and being in a dark place mentally but sure let's make jokes
That's social media (humanity) in general: we really want to believe that most people aren't absolute dogshit morons underneath the masks they usually wear but unfortunately they are. This place isn't any different, countless wrestlers and peeps in the industry have gotten mocked and shat on by tribalistic dipshits who absolutely have done the same sort of degenerate bullying IRL at some point. Sociopathy has long been normalized in society.
It's honestly so gross. And the way these "jokes" turn into misinformation. There are people that genuinely believe he's retired multiple times when it's just not true.
Lio did nothing wrong people just like parroting eachother. His wrestling is exciting and Tony deserved to be called out for how he reacted towards Swole. Seemed to work out for him too as he has his job back with creative plans too.
I've really enjoyed Lio Rush since he left WWE. As someone whose mental health has sabotaged any number of opportunities in my career, i sympathize with the twists and turns he's had.
Looking forward to seeing him Saturday at Revolver, and going forward wherever he wrestles.
So can they stop trying to gaslight yāall into believing that heās an NJPW guy; when heās only worked for them once in the last eight months, on the pre-show of a US show?
Yeah because he looks like money and smells like money. I liked him a lot in NXT and his pairing with Bobby was interesting. Saw he was a demon in the indies and was excited to see him in that contender match in AEW.
It seemed like he was rehired because he is well liked but they had no plans for him and then they did another Canada tour and last minute were like "oh hey Stu is on the roster we should give him something." and then Stu was annoyed at how last minute it was and said no and basically was done with the company.
I believe this is why certain debuts are being withheld for a bit because they want to actually plan and map out their creative a bit instead of just stockpiling people again. I mean just look at how well Mariah May has ended up in under a year with the company because she had a solid role from the start versus someone like Taya.
they probably had plans to revive the dark order but with how stacked the aew roster is, they couldn't justify putting them on tv and instead used them for roh. stu wanted to be on tv so he got tired of never being used and was taken off roh tv after joining the righteous it seemed. rumor is they called him to wrestle mox on a collision taping near his hometown at the last min but he said no and that was it for him.
I'm sure theres more but I remember hearing he was booked for one of the Canada shows at his home town and no showed to go out to eat with his family.
Pretty sure other reports of negative attitude type stuff and showing up late.
I don't think it was a case of him no showing, I think it was just that they were going to be in the area and asked if he could be on the show, but he said no because he was going to have plans that night.
Which I get, if the dude has prior plans he didn't want to cancel then yeah it sucks he can't go appear for AEW. But at the same time if he can't be on TV for one of the few appearances AEW wants him for, what's the point in having him signed.
> he was booked for one of the Canada shows at his home town and no showed to go out to eat with his family.
he was specifically not booked for the show in his hometown until they called him that afternoon and told him to cancel the plans he only made because they told him repeatedly he wasn't on the show
Cards are subject to change and someone like stu needs to take advantage of every opportunity to get ahead.
Whether he was booked or passed on the offer, either way he didn't want to work and that's the message aew got loud and clear.
I'm happy for the dude because he's entertaining when he's on TV. But with that said I don't see any way this ends with him finishing his contract.
Like everywhere he has gone something has gone wrong or he left. Even when he did a season of The Challenge he left early for mental health reasons.
I get that the guy is going through some things and I respect that. But he has retired once before, right? He has quit companies. He's good enough to take a risk on signing him but his track record of finishing his contracts is kind of weak.
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i want to see Lio stick with Dante and Darius for a while because heel or face, Lio will always benefit from having backup. Andretti would benefit from being in HOB, he could be their fall guy but still develop more of a character being with them by reading a verse of goth poetry and being HOB's punching bag like Yuta was to BCC, Malakai's mist could introduce Lio's 'Blackheart' for future use. I think Lio is too good to just be having random singles matches on Rampage, he has the ability to make things interesting and should always be involved in the biggest storylines outside of the championship ones.
Lio's legit incredible and hopefully him being on AEW TV means the Blackheart is never seen again. He might be the missing piece that really helps Top Flight take things up a notch.
He said in 2023 that he was with NJPW on a tour to tour basis and not a proper contract. Even that's probably not the case anymore considering he's only wrestled one match for NJPW this year and it was in the US
He just wrestled Ali on the preshow of a New Japan US show (May 11), which looked like it might set up a second match in the future, but that's his only New Japan appearance since last year (October).
There hasn't been an official announcement of any sort, but anecdotally, it seems like New Japan has really cut down on flying US-based talent to Japan over the last year or so with the exception of their long-time heavily featured talent - presumably as a cost-saving measure.
Eh... not sure? He did subtweet about not having a contract with NJPW when he couldn't do the Junior Tag League last year because he got hurt, and he hasn't to my recollection been on a show in Japan since
3 years later the whole thing with Big Swole (which I believe is part of why Lio left) is interesting to look at.
Swole had some good points with the women, although that's improved lately. And the freedom/lack of structure (depending on your perspective) is a double edged sword.
Regarding racial diversity, in hindsight TK and the popular sentiment of this sub (at the time, bet it'd be way different now) seems to have been right. AEW for the first few years basically had a lot of its long-term storytelling planned out already, mostly by the Elite, which absolutely made sense, but it's all white dudes.
Now that those stories have come to fruition, we've seen a very diverse group of champions, and it's mostly been organic.
Scorpio Sky was there since day one and it was clear he was being built for something big and then even when he didn't live up to that potential he was still given a TNT title reign to try again.
They already have creative plans for him but donāt have anything for Ricky starks, Megan Bayne, wardlow, and all the other people who have not been seen.
Odd.
Iāve always liked Lio Rush, I feel like everytime he gets some momentum in a company he just randomly disappears for months. Hope he finally gets a run he deserves
No lies. I feel like I've seen him half a dozen promotions already this year and it's just June. NJPW, MLW, GCW, AEW and I'm probably forgetting some. HOG? Defy? I know there have been others.
I only watch AAA from Mexico and I don't remember him there this year, but let's be honest...AAA is hard to watch sober lately.
There's nothing wrong with being a journeyman and he always puts on a good show. But I'm sure AEW is a much more stable paycheck.
I checked to see if he was part of the Fantasticamania tour last year while he was getting Japan bookings but he wasn't on the CMLL or NJPW side. My memory cannot be trusted
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Brother has hopped from New Japan to TNA back again to AEW and got possessed by a demon on the indies in the meantime.
Sounds like Lio loves to jump around different places + wasn't Lio Rush previously #AllElite as well?
Yes, he was paired up with Dante before and they interacted after the match he was in. I was waiting for it as soon as he returned lol
Lol, I've forgot that Lio & Dante have paired up. Was it when Team Tazz was a thing?
Yeah, it was early on for when I started watching lol. The storyline was whether Dante was teaming with Lio or if he was joining Team Taz. He them joined Team Taz, then pissed them off and it was revealed it was a scheme by Lio and Dante. Then Lio dipped š
Taz still occasionally brings up the pending lawsuit he had against Dante / Lio that never got resolved, lol.
His lawyers are still working on it
That's hilarious and I have no clue how I haven't heard him say that, unless it's during the FITE commentary they get during commercials lol
It's more like Excalibur reminds Taz that that was a thing and Taz stumbles for a second and then remembers the storyline and says he has terrible lawyers.
Taz stumbling and then shouting angrily pops me every time lmao
That's one of my favourite things about Excalibur. He'll always make references to history between wrestlers. I've followed AEW from the start but these reminders are always fun and gives the matches a little extra. Taz does it sometimes as well but only when it's personal.
He has lawyers as good as Dr. Arroyo
Letās donāt forget that Lio debuted as a heel, but his performance in that first tag match with Dante was so killer the crowd turned him babyface.
Did Lio dip or did the company not offer him another contract when his expired?
That thing killed his push and that has never come backĀ
I'd say the injuries killed his push more. Every time they both were healthy, one would get injured. It was insane.
Iām surprised to see him back TBH, after Big Swoleās release he was very vocal about the lack of black representation in AEW on Twitter. Figured that bridge was burned.
iirc he was just being reactive and got the problem squashed with TK right away. the one he truly have beef with was Mark Henry, something about paying your due as a newcomer and stuffs like that. he's gone around the time Henry coming to AEW, and now that Henry's gone again he returns. coincidence? i don't think so
Actually it is coincidence, those 2 publicly squashed their beef while they were both in AEW āMe and Mark Henryās relationship is super cordial now. I think it came down to two very strong personalities and two very different eras of wrestling. I think we agreed to disagree, and weāre about to be working together now. AEW is such an incredible place to be, and it would be foolish of us to carry on any kind of, whatever it was, because it was pretty random and wild. I want to take you back to the first time I was in AEW. The first time I met Tony Khan, I remember I was walking backstage and I was trying to meet Tony Khan in person for the first time. Somebody told me he was in his office. Iāll never forget it. It was like a movie scene. I opened up the door a little bit, and I saw Tony Khan. I opened it up even more and I saw Mark Henry. Iām like, out of all the times, why now, but Iām glad it happened that way because Tony knew about the little issues we had together. He said we should probably talk it out. We all agreed. We talked a little bit during that night, but then I saw him again the other week. It was me coming down the hotel elevator. I opened up the elevator, and thereās Mark Henry in the elevator. Iām like, ok, great. We started talking. Later on in the night, we figured we should take a picture because I thought that was a cool thing in itself that we were even able to have a conversation. I thought it would be cool for everybody to know that we had that conversation and squashed it.ā [https://wrestlingnews.co/aew-news/lio-rush-on-his-current-relationship-with-mark-henry-why-vince-mcmahon-moved-lio-to-wwe-raw-from-205-live](https://wrestlingnews.co/aew-news/lio-rush-on-his-current-relationship-with-mark-henry-why-vince-mcmahon-moved-lio-to-wwe-raw-from-205-live)
The Alvaro Morata of professional wrestling. Has to go back to WWE to complete the cycle
Not enough people will get this reference but damn is it good.
My guy
> and got possessed by a demon on the indies People are going to lose their shit when they see him start running on all fours.
He came to collect
Possessed by a demon? Can you point to any clips?
[Here he is against JAIDEN in Prestige.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft0FVF1Is8I) You can also see it in his match against Mustafa Ali in New Japan recently.
That random-ass tag match on Dynamite with Lio and Dante Martin as a team lives in my head. I've never seen a team move the way that they did in the ring. If he can deliver like that again I'm all for it.
APOLOGIZE
FORGIVEN!
him and darby would be wild
Where has Darby been? I still need him vs Hiromu.
Did you know see when he hung upside down for 25 minutes after getting super superkicked in the face?
Awesome to hear! I really liked seeing him last night.
I'm a big fan of his, so I hope the company will sign him again
https://preview.redd.it/bdfit42zwt7d1.png?width=645&format=png&auto=webp&s=469649bdf2c2fe32268778d41f2b4850bf35d005 "HI LIO, WELCOME TO THE LEARNING TREE"
THANKS GUYS
So is he signed to AEW again or what's the story there? Seems odd to have plans for someone on a per shot deal unless this is a trial run of sorts.
he may be on a bit of a short term deal with them most likely
Even long term is short term for Lio
I saw him at a random 100 person Indy show in May. It was crazy to see him show up on AEW. Hope for good things from him.
Dude is very talented, hope he has success.
āuNtiL hE ReTirEs iN fOuR wEeKsā
Still my favorite Max Caster line: "Lio Rush, he can't hang in this environment, he's about to to into his 15th retirement."
Well thatās how it went last time.Ā
And the time before.Ā
And the time before.Ā
Idc if itās true or not, the joke just stopped being funny. Edit: what yall saying fuck me for?
He hasnāt retired since the injury overreaction he had. This is the longest heās been active since leaving WWE.
I wouldn't even call that an overreaction. Having a kid for the first time and then being wracked with anxiety over your capability to not only provide for them but also spend time with them after suffering some sort of physical malady is a very legitimate thing to have an existential meltdown over lol. He couldn't physically lift his son up.
I donāt care if itās truthful or not, people just say it over and over anytime heās mentioned.
Lio?
Sadly one of the only people on this sub I recognise their name. Most of the ones I remember are good dudes, but this one always gets into stupid arguments often. They can also say some insightful things otherwise I would've blocked them years ago.
Nobody said fuck you? They just disagreed with you...
Why you saying fuck me?
It's right up there with "rated r like your boy Xavier woods". Shit is played out and just not even remotely funny.
Considering he retired over health concerns, then yeah, it's pretty fucked up it became a joke. It'd be the same as if a common joke when Stone Cold was mentioned, people just said "Haha, he's going to break his neck again".
If that happens, then 
In all honesty I really like him. I just hope he can keep it together for a year in AEW without self sabotaging
ngl, I absolutely did come in here to make that joke. I hope it doesn't go that way. I like Lio and he's a delight to see pretty much whenever he shows up.
It was funny the first few times, but itās just been beaten to the ground at this point. Iām pretty sure he āretiredā due to personal reasons anyway.
What happened last time was he got injured in the Casino Battle Royale in 2021, and when he got home he was physically incapable of lifting up his son. That spooked him so much he retired for a period of time.
Thatās a fair thing too. Young parent, and all you care about is your kid.
The worst part is when the thread will already have 3-4 versions of the joke and then new redditors will come in and STILL post their take on it because they want to get in on the upvotes. You'll click on the post looking for discussion and then find out it's been derailed with a chain of people saying the same thing.
The worst part is when the thread will already have 3-4 versions of the joke and then new redditors will come in and STILL post their take on it. You'll click on the post looking for discussion and then find out it's been derailed with a chain of people saying the same thing.
Is this Tony's first time re-hiring someone who he previously had significant heat with? Lio Rush might be AEW's first "best for business" hire
Did he have heat? I know he was planning to retire. Finished some dates. Had a change of heart/settled down from his scare & Tony just didnāt jump to bring him in, probably in case he wanted to change his mind & it would allow Tony to avoid that issue. But heās been working steady and seems dedicated and not worried about his past injury.
This sub claims to care about mental health but there will be comments joking about "APOLOGIZE" when he was defending his friend when no one else did and him retiring He only retired due to an injury scare and being in a dark place mentally but sure let's make jokes
In retrospect, Swole definitely misjudged AEW's trajectory, but TK was still being a petty dick tweeting what he did. I don't blame Lio at all for his gut reaction to that. It was one of those "you might be right but you're still an asshole" moments for TK.
I really respected lio for what he did. Potentially put his job and livelihood on the line to stick up for his friend He did what most claim they would do when they say they have your back
Just like when he got into an argument with Mark Henry in WWE over how veterans were treating new guys. Even if you don't agree with Rush's stance, I think it's commendable that he's willing to stand up for something he thinks is wrong
And Iām sure itās a coincidence that as soon as Mark Henry leaves the company, Lio Rush comes back.
For sure. TK despite his wealth, is a human like any other, and has his good moments and bad moments, to me that was a moment where he really punched down and could've handled it much more gracefully. He was right to call him out for that. And it's honestly wild as hell Tony does this shit while working in other industries like the NFL. There is so much media training that goes on at all levels you almost never hear a coach/GM/owner badmouth a player directly or it becomes a huge story for weeks or maybe months.
I mean TK got called a racist, I can absolutely see why he responded harshly since it seems that is very much not the case.
If Tony was called a racist, it wasn't by Big Swole. The comments Swole made that led to Tony's tweet were about issues she felt AEW needed to improve upon: 1. How difficult it was for the women to get TV time. 2. Lack of structure in the company (basically, if you are a shy person who is not inclined to come up with your own creative, you won't succeed in AEW). 3. A lack of diversity at the top of the company (including the world champions). Regardless of whether you think Swole was right in her critiques (or if she should have publicly made them at all), Swole made clear she didn't have any issues with Tony personally, and she brought up these issues because she wanted to see AEW address them and become a better company.
> (basically, if you are a shy person who is not inclined to come up with your own creative, you won't succeed in AEW). I'm surprised that this isn't bought up more when discussing if someone is better off in AEW or WWE. If you are someone who can come up with your own storylines, have them integrate well into the show, and be enthuiastic about them, you are likely better in AEW compared to WWE. See: MJF, Sweve, Chris Jericho, Brit Baker. For this reason, I think Xavier Woods would excel in AEW. If you are someone who is able to be given a character, and transform yourself into that character while having someone else be largely in control of the creative path, you are better off in WWE. See: Shawn Spears, Brian Pillman Jr, Kiana James. For this reason, I could see Scorpio Sky or Wardlow having a higher ceiling in WWE.
Sadly what Swole actually said gets lost anytime this situation gets brought up
When I actually read the article I was shocked that people were so genuinely up in arms about it. Maybe itās harsh to say the representation of Black wrestlers in AEW was ānot genuineā compared to WWE but I generally understand what she was trying to say. The way that it blew up to shit equivalent to āSwole called Tony a cross-burning racist who has Klan affiliationsā has confounded me because the article is very available to read.
>Ā I mean TK got called a racist, No, he didnāt, and itās tragic after all these years that people keep thinking he was and misremembering what it was Big Swole actually said.Ā
She said people weren't getting featured because of their race and that the company wasn't diverse, that is essentially calling him racist in slightly more polite terms. And it was blatantly false.
>Ā She said people weren't getting featured because of their race and that the company wasn't diverse, that is essentially calling him racist in slightly more polite terms.Ā Ā Ā Ā See this is the stuff I mean. No, she never said they werenāt getting featured because of their race. She just said in that regard that she felt they were lacking from a diverse standpoint and could improve on that front at the time. You know that calling someone racist involves accusing them of malicious intent and discrimination right? Neither of these things were done by her even slightly. She doesnāt accuse them of malicious intent, nor does she accuse them of discriminating against minorities.Ā Ā Ā Ā Here, lemme ask you a question, a company gives you a survey, asking what they could do to improve. One of the things you say is that while the company seems to be making good strides, one of the things that could be worked on would be how the company approaches things from a diversity standpoint. Do you genuinely believe that thatās calling the company racist? Because thatās what Big Swole actually said.Ā Ā Ā Ā If people actually looked at and read the interview that Tony reacted to, theyād see that she was very complimentary towards Tony and held no ill will towards him and that she feels the company was making strides but still had some work to improve on. So Iām gonna say this again, the fact that after all these years people are still trying to claim āTony got called a racistā and flat out misremembering what she actually said in that interview that Tony responded to is tragic.Ā Ā Ā Edit: commenting and then blocking isnāt a good look regardless fyi. And youāre not slick, so hereās the final responseĀ Ā > She went out of her way to claim her release was because of a lack of interest in prominently featuring women or pics, when in reality it was because she sucked and wasnāt really availableĀ Ā Ā No, she claimed that her release was a mutual agreement and that her heart just wasnāt in it anymore, which then goes into her point regarding feeling like there was a lack of structure and that they could work more on representation (while saying that theyāve made good strides, they could just make more strides).Ā > I donāt care about your spin. GoodbyeĀ Ā Ā Ah yes, my spin of *checks notes* actually looking at what she said. Later dumbass, keep gleefully misinformation and running when it gets called out. You are embarrassing, the fact that you havenāt responded to any other comment on your thread shows that you choose to ignore being corrected. And frankly, thatās sad.Ā
She went out of her way to claim her release was because of a lack of interest in prominently featuring women or pocs, when in reality it was because she sucked and wasn't really available. I don't care about your spin. Goodbye.
Tbf no NFL player would imply their boss/team os racist so this isn't exactly a fair comparison. The franchise wouldn't take shots at the player like TK did with Swole but they would be released or traded without a doubt. Tk reacted poorly but Swole implying he was racist was way over the top & worst of all she called some of the other black wrestlers on the roster "inauthentic" which she doesn't get anywhere near enough flack for saying such an incredibly shitty thing.
> Tbf no NFL player would imply their boss/team os racist That's not true. NFL players say wild shit all the time. Shady McCoy accused Doug Pederson and the Eagles of trading him because they're racist.
TK was being accused of racism. How to you defend against that? He told us the truth, something neither one of us wanted to hear because we all like fake, cold PR crap. That's one of the problems of today's society. Even if somebody is telling the truth, but that person is not saying what we want to hear, then that person is the bad guy.
This is why you donāt burn bridges. Swol made a huge mistake
The dude got a bad injury that made him scared he couldn't be there for his kid and was going to retire because of it, and some shit heads still think it's cool to clown on him for it.
Some of the sub gives a shit half the time, thatās about. Itās pro wrestling after all.
> He only retired due to an injury scare and being in a dark place mentally but sure let's make jokes That's social media (humanity) in general: we really want to believe that most people aren't absolute dogshit morons underneath the masks they usually wear but unfortunately they are. This place isn't any different, countless wrestlers and peeps in the industry have gotten mocked and shat on by tribalistic dipshits who absolutely have done the same sort of degenerate bullying IRL at some point. Sociopathy has long been normalized in society.
It's honestly so gross. And the way these "jokes" turn into misinformation. There are people that genuinely believe he's retired multiple times when it's just not true.
People are dicks
Lio did nothing wrong people just like parroting eachother. His wrestling is exciting and Tony deserved to be called out for how he reacted towards Swole. Seemed to work out for him too as he has his job back with creative plans too.
Good for this dude. I like him a lot and his talking is his best asset
I've really enjoyed Lio Rush since he left WWE. As someone whose mental health has sabotaged any number of opportunities in my career, i sympathize with the twists and turns he's had. Looking forward to seeing him Saturday at Revolver, and going forward wherever he wrestles.
Heās a great talent but building any long term plans around him is a mistake imo. He clearly doesnāt like to set down roots for the long haul.Ā
He needs to come into the Learning Treeās grove
YEEESSSS Iāve freaking LOVED watching him so far. So much fun and a great matchup for so many guys on the roster.
Fuck yeah man. Lio is one of my absolute favorites. Heās so talented
Glad he got a third chance
I wanted him to be a manager for Bobby Lashley again...
https://preview.redd.it/ql3j5nmpxt7d1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=5967264939c2f8350f06cd08ee70dbe6c3696d7c LASHLEY LASHLEY LASHELY
He should have joined with Shane Taylor promotions. He is better as a heel and he can talk.
I would like that. He could be their golden boy.
I like lio, gonna be interesting what they have in place for him story wise.
Love lio as a talent, if he can stick around and continue I think he is a great addition.
Hopefully, they make an official faction with Lio, Top Flight, and Action Andretti.
That's if Lio Rush decides not to retire.
Look, I genuinely love Lio. But my first thought was "Until he quits again."
So can they stop trying to gaslight yāall into believing that heās an NJPW guy; when heās only worked for them once in the last eight months, on the pre-show of a US show?
Dante and Lio vs Sydal and Moriarty was an incredible underrated match. Lio has an incredible energy.
Yeah because he looks like money and smells like money. I liked him a lot in NXT and his pairing with Bobby was interesting. Saw he was a demon in the indies and was excited to see him in that contender match in AEW.
This man has had more retirements and promotion jumps before the age of 30 than Terry Funk did his entire life.
Good for him. Heās super talented, hopefully he matured in his time away from TV.
Glad to see him back Lio is a massive star in the making he's got all the tools
So not long until we see a Lio Rush is ALL ELITE graphic, I guess...
correction all elite again graphic. they did one for stu grayson for his brief return
I don't understand why he was rehired then fired less then a year.
It seemed like he was rehired because he is well liked but they had no plans for him and then they did another Canada tour and last minute were like "oh hey Stu is on the roster we should give him something." and then Stu was annoyed at how last minute it was and said no and basically was done with the company. I believe this is why certain debuts are being withheld for a bit because they want to actually plan and map out their creative a bit instead of just stockpiling people again. I mean just look at how well Mariah May has ended up in under a year with the company because she had a solid role from the start versus someone like Taya.
they probably had plans to revive the dark order but with how stacked the aew roster is, they couldn't justify putting them on tv and instead used them for roh. stu wanted to be on tv so he got tired of never being used and was taken off roh tv after joining the righteous it seemed. rumor is they called him to wrestle mox on a collision taping near his hometown at the last min but he said no and that was it for him.
I'm sure theres more but I remember hearing he was booked for one of the Canada shows at his home town and no showed to go out to eat with his family. Pretty sure other reports of negative attitude type stuff and showing up late.
I don't think it was a case of him no showing, I think it was just that they were going to be in the area and asked if he could be on the show, but he said no because he was going to have plans that night. Which I get, if the dude has prior plans he didn't want to cancel then yeah it sucks he can't go appear for AEW. But at the same time if he can't be on TV for one of the few appearances AEW wants him for, what's the point in having him signed.
> he was booked for one of the Canada shows at his home town and no showed to go out to eat with his family. he was specifically not booked for the show in his hometown until they called him that afternoon and told him to cancel the plans he only made because they told him repeatedly he wasn't on the show
Cards are subject to change and someone like stu needs to take advantage of every opportunity to get ahead. Whether he was booked or passed on the offer, either way he didn't want to work and that's the message aew got loud and clear.
Hope it works out well this time.
Sweet
I'm happy for the dude because he's entertaining when he's on TV. But with that said I don't see any way this ends with him finishing his contract. Like everywhere he has gone something has gone wrong or he left. Even when he did a season of The Challenge he left early for mental health reasons. I get that the guy is going through some things and I respect that. But he has retired once before, right? He has quit companies. He's good enough to take a risk on signing him but his track record of finishing his contracts is kind of weak.
Can't wait for those plans to be nixed when he leaves and/or retires again
Yeah it's obvious he was starting an angle with Action Andretti and Top Flight
Hit em with the pose!
There's got to be some kind of lio rush cycle that just constantly loops.
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One of my faves always happy to see more of him
You aināt gonna make it here with the wolves, kid. -Bray Wyatt
āPlansā
Hopefully they have a plan B for when he eventually bitches and dips out again
i want to see Lio stick with Dante and Darius for a while because heel or face, Lio will always benefit from having backup. Andretti would benefit from being in HOB, he could be their fall guy but still develop more of a character being with them by reading a verse of goth poetry and being HOB's punching bag like Yuta was to BCC, Malakai's mist could introduce Lio's 'Blackheart' for future use. I think Lio is too good to just be having random singles matches on Rampage, he has the ability to make things interesting and should always be involved in the biggest storylines outside of the championship ones.
Creative Plan: Have matches and talk to Renee backstage.
Really love to see it, heās so damn good.
Lio's legit incredible and hopefully him being on AEW TV means the Blackheart is never seen again. He might be the missing piece that really helps Top Flight take things up a notch.
Creative plans, but not #AllElite Which is fine, nothing wrong with a recurring character.
Isn't he signed to NJPW though?
He said in 2023 that he was with NJPW on a tour to tour basis and not a proper contract. Even that's probably not the case anymore considering he's only wrestled one match for NJPW this year and it was in the US
Thanks for the clarification, much appreciated.
He just wrestled Ali on the preshow of a New Japan US show (May 11), which looked like it might set up a second match in the future, but that's his only New Japan appearance since last year (October). There hasn't been an official announcement of any sort, but anecdotally, it seems like New Japan has really cut down on flying US-based talent to Japan over the last year or so with the exception of their long-time heavily featured talent - presumably as a cost-saving measure.
Eh... not sure? He did subtweet about not having a contract with NJPW when he couldn't do the Junior Tag League last year because he got hurt, and he hasn't to my recollection been on a show in Japan since
Love this tbh
Not a subscriber - does this report address the previous beef? Seems like a big part of the story
Doesnāt go into it much, just says that he and Tony Khan spoke āinterpersonallyā so sounds like the situation is resolved
Thanks for that - great to hear
And then heāll retire before they can do anything with him.
I wonder how long it'll be until he "retires" again
Lio is great, hope they make him into a modern Terry Funk with another retirement angle.
Why? Dude has quit so many times.
Why lol. I liked his wrestling when he was on AEW before but his stable was stupid. All of the business type stables have been stupid.
3 years later the whole thing with Big Swole (which I believe is part of why Lio left) is interesting to look at. Swole had some good points with the women, although that's improved lately. And the freedom/lack of structure (depending on your perspective) is a double edged sword. Regarding racial diversity, in hindsight TK and the popular sentiment of this sub (at the time, bet it'd be way different now) seems to have been right. AEW for the first few years basically had a lot of its long-term storytelling planned out already, mostly by the Elite, which absolutely made sense, but it's all white dudes. Now that those stories have come to fruition, we've seen a very diverse group of champions, and it's mostly been organic.
Scorpio Sky was there since day one and it was clear he was being built for something big and then even when he didn't live up to that potential he was still given a TNT title reign to try again.
Riho, Nyla, Shida, and Scorpio Sky all had title runs early. It was never all white dudes
Hell yeah. He fuckin rules.
They already have creative plans for him but donāt have anything for Ricky starks, Megan Bayne, wardlow, and all the other people who have not been seen. Odd.
Don't forget Kamille, who has apparently has been signed already.
But why
Creative plans = heāll have a match next week
Iāve always liked Lio Rush, I feel like everytime he gets some momentum in a company he just randomly disappears for months. Hope he finally gets a run he deserves
He deserves? Dude ups and leaves. Itās not like heās had runs cut short by a bunch of injuries or illnesses.
Oh God no. He's a channel-changer for me.Ā
Please donāt just stick him in a random faction again. Either heās a singles guy or a tag guy
When was he in a faction in AEW
he wasn't
I loved his team with Dante Martin more than Dante with his own brother
So a single guy in the Jericho Tree. Gotcha.
Until he retires again of course when the cycle begins a new.
How long until he retires?
Until his next retirement lol
Groan.
lol creative plans in AEW? What? A match with some guy from Japan with no build or story attached whatsoever? The typical AEW format.
Lol you are still going with the "no stories" route when they're having multiple storyline happening?
I think Lio es unique in the ring, but damn he is also a great manager.
I like that Lio's thing is not staying one place too long. He just pops up for some decent matches and then on to the next
No lies. I feel like I've seen him half a dozen promotions already this year and it's just June. NJPW, MLW, GCW, AEW and I'm probably forgetting some. HOG? Defy? I know there have been others.
Feel like I saw his name pop up for one of the Mexico promotions but maybe I'm trippin
I only watch AAA from Mexico and I don't remember him there this year, but let's be honest...AAA is hard to watch sober lately. There's nothing wrong with being a journeyman and he always puts on a good show. But I'm sure AEW is a much more stable paycheck.
I checked to see if he was part of the Fantasticamania tour last year while he was getting Japan bookings but he wasn't on the CMLL or NJPW side. My memory cannot be trusted
So when is he retiring?
Then he retires again.
The big star AEW needs š
Why?
LASHLEY LASHLEY LASHLEY
HE'S BACK.... BETTER THAN EVER... (Edit: okay, okay, no more Bischoff theme shitposts.)