Newly crowned MLW World Middleweight Champion Lio Rush recently spoke with Alicia Atout, and he reflected on his post-WWE career. He expressed his excitement about working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and commended the promotion’s distinct culture.
“[I was] probably more excited to be a part of New Japan than I was to be signed to WWE, to be honest,” said Rush. “I love the culture, I love the fans, they respect the art of wrestling so much.
“Even the wrestlers themselves, I feel like they take their craft a lot more seriously when it comes to the sport and art of professional wrestling and combat. I’m super excited to be a part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and I’m excited to show the fans that already know me a more aggressive side to Lio Rush, a more technical side of Lio Rush, and I’m excited to wrestle in front of an entirely new fan base with the Japanese audience.”
Rush also reflected on his decision to sign with Major League Wrestling. He said that owner Court Bauer was interested in signing him during his time with WWE.
“MLW’s a place where I wanted to work for quite some time now,” said Rush. “I’m a good, mutual friend of Court Bauer, I know that we have a mutual friend with Wale, and ever since WaleMania, Court’s always been wanting me to be a part of MLW. As soon as the release [from WWE] happened, he had reached out to me. He made it known that he wanted to work with me in the future, even if it wasn’t right away. And it’s been one hell of an experience.”
Rush also praised the professionalism of Major League Wrestling, and he complimented its talented roster.
“You don’t find too many places out there outside of WWE that are as professional as MLW is,” said Rush. “The amount of talent there is absolutely unreal.”
The full interview is available here:
