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What's the story?
Lio Rush is in hot water again as reports of alleged backstage heat on the Superstar have surfaced online. Mike Johnson of PWInsider revealed that the 205 Live talent's WWE talent could be taking a turn for the worse due to his backstage interactions with other superstars.
In case you didn't know...
After building up his resume on the indie circuit for three years, Rush joined the WWE in the July of 2017 on a developmental contract. He first got into trouble when he received flak for his unfavorable comments on Emma's WWE release in October last year. He was reprimanded for his actions as WWE removed him from a host of NXT events.
The 24-year-old made his main roster debut in June 2018 as the hypeman of Bobby Lashley as well as a performer in the Cruiserweight division.
He was most recently booked in a handicap match for the Intercontinental title alongside Lashley against Finn Balor at Elimination Chamber and predictably enough, was eventually pinned that resulted in Lashley losing the IC title to the Demon King. The Dominator unleashed a beatdown on Rush after the match, which possibly hinted at the end of their alliance. However, Rush was on Lashley's side his week on Raw when the duo lost a tag team match against Balor and the debuting Richochet.
The heart of the matter
On the latest edition of PWInsider Elite audio, Johnson revealed that many were not surprised behind the scenes when they saw Rush taking the pin at Elimination Chamber.
Rush is reportedly not a popular figure backstage as he apparently has a history of rubbing his colleagues the wrong way.
Johnson continued, "Whether that was being held against him and that was part of the reasoning for him losing or whether it was just a decision to protect Lashley and shift the belt to Finn Balor, I guess we’ll have to see based on how Lio is presented in the weeks and months to come.”
The reports received backing as BodySlam.net's Cassidy Haynes revealed via a backstage source that Rush isn't someone you would want to be associated with at all.
What's next?
Thankfully for Rush, he is still part of WWE's creative plans as he appeared with Lashley on this week's edition of Raw. It will be intriguing to see how the reported heat affects his booking in the weeks to come on the road to WrestleMania 35.
