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Lio Rush was released from the WWE in April due to the COVID-19 budget cuts. Before being released by the company, Lio Rush was known for his role as the manager of Bobby Lashley. When Bobby Lashley was aligned with Lio Rush, The All-Mighty went on to win his first Intercontinental Championship in the WWE.
Lio Rush on racial inequality in WWE
Lio Rush was a recent guest on the And Another Thing podcast. During the interview, the former WWE Superstar spoke about his time in the WWE and delved on racial inequality in the company.
"You hear the stories from ex-WWE wrestlers about their experiences. The unfairness that comes from a big organization like that as far as racial inequality or whatever, but my experience with WWE compared to my experience with the independent scene was far different. I feel like it's unfortunate that you don't see African American heavyweight champions and you don't see an African American as the face of the company. If you do, it's kind of a publicity stunt. I'm not sure if 'publicity stunt' is the word I'm looking for, but it's always more of a moment. I feel like it should just be the way that it is."
Lio Rush further spoke about WWE Superstars such as Bobby Lashley and Apollo Crews getting the limelight during a nation-wide movement. Bobby Lashley faced Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title at MITB and Apollo Crews is the current US Champion.
"There's something unsettling about the fact that during all of this protesting and Black Lives Matter movement that we finally got to see Apollo Crews as the United States Champion. That we finally had Bobby Lashley going for the world title. Why now? Why try to capitalize on real life scenarios and tragedy to push this agenda? In my eyes, it always felt like, 'Is this the right time to now put an African American on top because these real life social injustice issues'? That's just something that's always been upsetting to me and I know I'm rambling right now, but I always get pretty emotional about this." (h/t Wrestling Inc.)
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