Lio Rush has delivered his Final Match.
On Sunday night, Lio revealed the details surrounding his "final match," which turned out to be an album that Lio said would be his version of a shoot interview. Lio was released by WWE on April 15 as part of the company-wide cutbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and since then, he's been outspoken on social media regarding the Drake Maverick storyline, racial sensitivity in WWE, and his heat with Finn Balor.
The album is out now and anyone who expects Lio to address his WWE run will be highly disappointed.
The album tracks are titled after wrestling terms like "Hope Spot," "Heat," "Rest Hold," and "Comeback," seemingly to make up from the lack of wrestling spoke about on the album.
"Gorilla" serves as a fine intro with Lio rapping A cappella about his doubts and taking potential stabs at WWE by rapping, "I never kiss and tell, they did me dirty now they're wishing upon a wishing well, oh well, so what. I almost fucking threw up...from the shit that they fed me, I know they missin' me clearly. Call me a liar if you want to, huh? Who's going to entertain you when you're crying to your momma."
"Entrance" sounds like the song Lio would have preferred as his entrance song in WWE, even having a similar beat to "I Came To Collect."
"Shine" features Josiah Williams, who was also released as part of the cutbacks, and is the deepest one could read into their respective times in WWE. The hook goes, "I want to do it my way, or no way, pushing through the doorway...of impossibilities...with responsibilities. I need them to hear me, I want them to fear me, because I can see so clearly."
Josiah, who is fantastic as a feature, opens by rapping, "I put too much work in, I know I aint perfect, but I never deserved this. It's hard showing what your worth is when they always make you feel worthless." Whether that's a shot at WWE is up to you, but it'll be interpreted as such.
"Heat" would seem like a track designed to address any potential issues amongst the boys, but I'm willing to bet Lio rapping, "Push me to the edge, I'm on fire. I will not stop until I find ya. You fucked up once now you're going to die," is a real death threat against anyone in WWE.
"Hope Spot" has a hook with the line, "Bow down, bow down, don't misbehave," that could be interpreted as a WWE holding him down and he later raps, "I am the GOAT, up in the ring, I need a deal, give me a ring" while also referencing the King. Maybe I'm not giving Lio enough credit, but I don't think he's rapping from the perspective of Triple H here given the overall tone of the track and album. Instead, it feels more like he's rapping about rapping.
The closing track "Thank You Lio" potentially touches more on his WWE as he raps, "Couldn't believe it, actions were deceiving, the thought of losing out on my dream wasn't needed. Or was it?" "I was supposed to make a bag off the game last year, until I opened up, left the office in fear, shade. Either way I got played, but either way I got paid." "Touched a star, caught some heat, I wasn't gone from the flames. Made it to the top for my name to be all tainted, I was told that I'm not a star, they couldn't see that like the windows were painted."
The rest of the album is filled non-wrestling material, some of which could be interpreted as a wrestling line if you really want to stretch things, as Lio tries to tell his story without really telling the story that most fans will be hoping for.
As a rap album, Lio puts together a nice compilation of tracks that certain fans will enjoy as the production is good, the energy is there, and there are some catchy hooks.
As a "shoot interview," fans will be disappointed to listen as Lio doesn't reveal anything that you probably didn't know, only vaguely discussing his time in WWE to where if you only view Lio as a rapper and not a wrestler, which would seem to be the goal of this album, the connection wouldn't exactly be clear.
