Lio Rush uses his detractors to push him forward in wrestling and beyond.
Lio Rush, at just 27 years old, has already experienced the high of WrestleMania, helped further along the young talents of AEW, and retired once, and the best part is, he is just getting started.
Lio Rush not only has interests in wrestling, but he is also passionate about the world of music. This Friday, he will be releasing his next EP, Not Found 2. Because of his roller coaster journey in wrestling, Lio Rush understands that he does have his detractors. Despite this, he tells Sean Ross Sapp in a new interview that he is not phased by those detractors. Rather, he lets the naysayers fuel his next moves in life.
"I think I try to tune it out just because I realize that no matter what I do there’s always going to be a 50/50 to anything. That’s not just with me, that’s with anybody," Lio said. "There’s gonna be people who don’t like your podcast and you’re gonna have people that love it. It’s just different tastes. I don’t like to harp on it too much because even with music, although everything is the same now that my music is starting to grow and I have this deal now and I’m gonna start reaching a different audience and more ears, I can’t really harp on all this stuff, the controversy that happened within wrestling because of different audiences. That’s a different fanbase. So it’s almost like I’m re-introducing myself to this new music audience that I am presenting myself to. It’s half and half. I like using it. It fuels me, for sure. I do like having that tension and that ‘heat.’ I thrive off of that. I like having those detractors to push me and push me forward."
Regarding those that choose to mock his decision to take retire briefly from wrestling on multiple occasions, Rush believes that these people are just wasting their energy. Rush also explains that he understands times have changed but, when he was a fan, he wasn't all consumed by the everyday lives of professional wrestlers.
"At this point, man, it’s just like, ‘Why?'," said Rush. "I can only say this from when I was a fan of wrestling, when I was not in the business—maybe it’s because social media wasn’t around—but I was just a fan of wrestling. I didn’t dig into people’s lives. It’s too personal now. Fans aren’t just fans anymore. They want to be in the know. I guess that’s fine, but there’s a line. If you like wrestling, just like wrestling. Just be a fan. It seems very exhausting to be a wrestling fan nowadays. But I’m fine with it. It doesn’t annoy me. I’m sure it annoys my fans, the people who like and enjoy my work, but me, personally, it doesn’t annoy me. It’s just like a, ‘Why are you wasting your energy?’ The joke has already been made. I’m here and I’m here to stay."
You can check out Rush’s music on YouTube and Spotify. Not Found 2 will release Friday, June 24, 2022.
