10 Things We Learned From Speaking To Lio Rush

6. His Frustration At How Things Ended With Lashley

lio rush interview
WWE.com

For the seven months that they were together, the pairing of Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush felt like an absolutely perfect fit.

With Lashley as the hulking beast, and Lio as the smaller guy with the ginormous mouth, this tandem meshed fantastically. But just as things seemed to be really getting going for the duo, the Lio Rush part of this arrangement was removed.

The last time we'd see Lio alongside Lashley was at WrestleMania 35, and the Man of the Hour was instantly removed from WWE TV following that 2019 edition of the annual Showcase of the Immortals.

Upon being asked about the frustration and bewilderment that must have come along with that decision - particularly with how hot and Lesnar-bound the pair seemed - Rush said, "Yeah, it was very frustrating, very disappointing, because I didn't know why we got split up in the first place."

Elaborating, Lio added, "I know that I had an issue with how I was being paid, and that was its own beast. I think ever since that conversation that I had about finances, I never got a phone call, I never heard from anybody for the next six months. Yeah, that was very frustrating, just because I thought Bobby and I had a really good thing going on. It was picking up a lot of steam, the dynamic was really cool, and the storyline we were in was really hot. So it was really frustrating and weird how the office just decided to drop it, and yeah, really frustrating."

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.