Lio Rush discusses his new single, working with Bobby Lashley and his WWE run (Exclusive)

Lio Rush may be known as The Man of the Hour, but there's no doubt that he could also be described as the man whose name has been on everyone's lips over the past few months.

Well, we managed to catch up with the man himself to speak all about his new single, his WWE run, and what's next on our brand new show Dropkick DiSKussions - which you can catch below.

Or if you prefer your content in the written format, the entire episode is transcribed in this article

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Hi, Lio! Thanks for joining us. First of all, we have to talk about your new single Scenic Lullaby! That came right out of the blue, at least for myself anyway. Is that something you'd been planning for a while, or was it just something that you decided, spur of the moment, to put out there?

It was something that I definitely wanted to put out as a project. I didn't know what exactly I wanted to do with it or when I wanted to put it out, but I've always written poetry, and this was right, I felt like I needed to express what I was gone through, or what I've gone through in my life. That's how it came about, but it's something I'd written a while ago and just recently I was like, "Do you know what? Maybe I should put this out."

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Is this a one-off, or can we expect another single, an EP, maybe even an album?

Oh, definitely! Eventually, I will put out more music - especially with the reaction and the responses that I've been getting over the last couple of days, which have been super overwhelming, but in a good way. The responses have been positive. I'm glad that everybody is enjoying it and, yeah, I definitely want to put out more. I feel like this is something that I was meant to do - as well as wrestling - because I come from a musical family, so it's cool to step into the music industry.

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NEXT: Lio Rush discusses working with Bobby Lashley

COMING UP: Lio discusses his favourite WWE memories

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For me, the best thing about Scenic Lullaby is that it is rap, but with you being a wrestler, it feels like a promo with a beat behind it. The lyrics have meaning, there's rhythm - you tell a story and it just happens to have a great musical to help it along. Do you think wrestling was the inspiration or were there particular musical inspirations for it?

There wasn't really any musical inspiration, I feel like it was something... I feel like a lot of the time, I can be misunderstood because I'm usually a pretty quiet guy in person, I'm pretty laid back - which is completely different from what people see on television.

I feel like I'm never as good with my words when I talk to people, and that's why I usually don't talk, but I just felt like putting things down on paper, putting down my thoughts and why I feel this way into music definitely helped me express myself in ways that...I'm not going to say I'm incapable of doing, but I find it very difficult doing in person, so that's why I did it through a song.

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Now, of course we also need to mention the wrestling. You’re such an incredible talker, and you made the world take notice on your latest WWE run. Did being a great speaker on television help your rap career, or did it come from another place altogether?

I think it's come from a whole other place as one, but I feel like the promos helped with my confidence. That was something that I never felt I'd be able to do, was speak in front of a crowd like that and have such an impact when I speak or say anything, and have people wanting to see me talk - literally put up a microphone to my face and people are like, "What is he going to say?"

Having that power helped me so much in music and being able to write, and having that confidence that when I put something out, people will listen.

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NEXT: Lio talks about THAT powerbomb spot

COMING UP: Lio discusses his favourite WWE memories

One of my favourite spots ever was something many people found controversial - your no-sell of a powerbomb from atop a ladder through a table. Did you know it was going to cause such a stir, or was it spur of the moment?

That story is so crazy! I know it's been covered by Joey [Janela] before, and that entire spot was not supposed to happen like that! This was me and Joey's fourth or fifth match in CZW after a long feud, and this was the blow-off right before I went to WWE.

The spot was supposed to be a powerbomb off the second rope through a table. That was it. I wasn't supposed to get up, I wasn't supposed to do anything. I remember messing with the table in the ring and both the legs were broken, like the screws were gone. I told Joey in the ring, "Hey, man, if we move this table," because it was already set up, "it's gonna break. Wherever we are right now, let's just think of something so that we can do the table spot successfully without having to get a, 'You f***ed up" chant'."

We saw the table was positioned in front of the ladder and thought, "Okay, let's just do something off the ladder." I remember him telling me to climb up the ladder and telling me, "I'm going to powerbomb you off the ladder, I want you to stand up." I was like, "Uh, okay," so it was actually Joey's idea, but I got the backlash because I was the one who stood up. It was pretty crazy.

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NEXT: Lio discusses his Blackheart character

COMING UP: Lio discusses his favourite WWE memories

Yeah, you got the raw end of that deal. It stuck with me and might actually be my favourite Lio Rush moment, but tell me - what’s yours?

My favourite Lio Rush moment... Man, there are so many cool moments I had on the independent circuit as well as the WWE. I don't think I can narrow it down to a specific moment on the independent scene, but I think my entire feud with Joey Janela is definitely the most memorable for me because people were so emotionally invested in anything we did - whether it was return vignettes or promos, or the matches themselves - and the whole run with the Blackheart character was pretty awesome too. A lot of people remember that character on the independent scene.

I would say in the WWE, I think just everything I did with Bobby [Lashley]. As much as a lot of people didn't like it, or a lot of people did, it gave me a lot of good publicity, it gave me a lot of good energy and it made my confidence in speaking just so... Man, it's hard to put into words because I was never a good talker, I was never a good promo guy, and my time working with Bobby, doing the stuff on television, it just gave me a confidence that I never knew I had, so all my stuff with Bobby. it was fun, it was funny and it was very hard to keep a straight face on anything that we did promo-wise, so that was definitely a good time!

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NEXT: Lio Rush reveals what's next!

As far as WWE, I love your character in WWE, and you said the talking was a highlight for you - but every match you were in, you definitely made the WWE Universe sit up and take notice with your in-ring ability.

One of my favourite matches was actually yourself against Cedric Alexander on 205 Live. Do you feel like you’ve reached your full potential in WWE, or is there more that people need to see?

Oh, definitely! I never thought that I would be in the position that I was in, in WWE. I moved so quickly up the ranks that I didn't even know what I was doing next, or when it happened - from going from NXT to 205, to Monday Night RAW.

Everything was moving so quick, and while I did get an opportunity to wrestle on 205 Live, and which was why I got brought to the WWE, I had such an unexpected, successful run in being a talker, which I didn't ever think would happen in a million years - but I definitely feel like there's a lot that I still want to accomplish as far as wrestling, and I feel like I do still want to show the world that I can be one of the best professional wrestlers in the world as well as being a pretty decent talker.

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Yeah, and definitely add some more music in there and just take on the world!

On that note, what’s next for Lio Rush?

Right now, I've been enjoying some time with my wife and my kids. It's so crazy, I always say that things happen for a reason and I got to spend this time with my family and think back on everything, and think about where I am and where I want to go.

I also got the opportunity to work on this music, which I've always wanted to do but never had the time to do. Again, I'm just enjoying some time with my family and just working on some things that I've always wanted to do. I've been putting an image out there and saying, "It's okay to have more than one dream and it's okay to have more than one goal."

While being a professional wrestler is always something I've wanted to accomplish, being a musical artist is also something I want to accomplish, so that's what I'm working on right now!

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A huge thanks to Lio Rush for speaking with us. You can follow Lio on Twitter here and download his new single, Scenic Lullaby, here.

You can also watch the full interview via our new show, Dropkick DiSKussions, here.