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Following his recent release from WWE, Lio Rush sparked a frenzy on Twitter when he hinted that he may never wrestle again.
The 25-year-old had been described as a “money performer” by Triple H on an NXT media conference call less than a year ago, but he seems to be preparing to hang up his boots.
Well, I was fortunate enough to speak with the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion to find out if there's truth behind the tweet, and just why Rush may be considering retirement at such a young age.
Is Lio Rush retiring?
You can watch a clip from our interview below, or read on for the transcript. The full interview will be available to watch very soon via our YouTube channel.
One thing that I definitely need to address, you put out a little tweet that garnered a little bit of... I wouldn't say controversy but a lot of people were like, "Man," last week when you said, "I may never wrestle again." How truthful was that? Were you just really into the music and that's where it came from, or was there honesty behind it?
"I think it was both."
"I knew that this album was coming out, I knew I was going to continue to pursue music so, in that sense, I'm thinking, 'Man, I'm doing so much with music, this is a passion of mine, I just might not step into the ring again.' "
Lio Rush, who has just released his new album 'Ever After' would elaborate and reveal that this wasn't a spur of the moment choice.
"There's also another layer of that tweet where it is a pretty real situation because, before the release, I always told myself and I would talk to my family members and friends, inside and outside of the business and say, 'I have a gut feeling that I'm not going to be in the world of wrestling anymore.' Obviously the memories and the mark that I left on wrestling will stay there but me physically being a part of the wrestling business might disappear sooner than later."
The former NXT Cruiserweight Champion would go on to say certain things in the wrestling business have "traumatised" him, and that he isn't sure he wants to risk his own happiness by wrestling again.
"Yeah, I don't know what it was but, even after the release, it just made me think about it even more. There's just a lot of things that I've gone through in the wrestling business that I feel like have traumatised me in a way and that has just been pretty disappointing."
Rush would state that a lot of backstage politics have soured his wrestling experience, and that the investment he made into his own career has caught up with him.
"Looking at me as a kid and wanting to do this, and just seeing the bright lights and the action, and daredevil stunts and stuff like that, to me becoming one of the people in the business and being part of the action but, you know, I didn't realise all the stuff that came with that, backstage, like the politics and all of the... Excuse my language but the bull**** that goes on in wrestling and I took a lot of time out of my personal life to invest into wrestling - and I feel like it definitely caught up with me - and now that I have this opportunity to be home with my family and focus on myself and my relationships, and my music. "
The good news, though, is that Lio Rush is happy right now. While the former RAW Superstar retiring at 25 years old may be a huge loss to the wrestling industry, it may very well be an even bigger gain for the music industry if the critical acclaim Ever After has received thus far is anything to go by.
No matter what he does, we, at Sportskeeda, thank Lio Rush for chatting with us, and wish him all the best in the future.
"I'm just happy right now, and why would I put myself back in a position where I didn't have control over a lot of things, and I was frustrated, angry, confused? Why put myself back in that position when I can be over here and be happy, and stay happy?"
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You can follow Lio Rush on Twitter here, and listen to Lio's new album 'Ever After' here.
