Lio Rush Posts Email He Sent to WWE Management About Hazing

Photo credit: WWE.com.

Former WWE Superstar Lio Rush went public Friday with an email he sent to the WWE office regarding his concerns about hazing while he was with the company.

Rush posted the email on Instagram and then tweeted it along with the caption:

🥀 Ever After OUT NOW! @itsLioRush

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter – Martin Luther King https://t.co/JoEZTnYo8T https://t.co/OFtJjD3i2A

The former NXT cruiserweight champion wrote, in part:

“Please be clear, I am in no way insinuating that the WWE is a racist company, nor am I commenting on the racial attitudes of any of the companies individuals. However, this email shows that I expressed concerns of racial insensitivity and my feelings as a young African American male to the WWE office during the incidents that have brought so much negativity to my name.”

In the email dated Nov. 9, 2018, Rush mentioned that during a tour with WWE, multiple people told him he was expected to buy beer and drinks for the other wrestlers and carry coolers off the bus since he was a new member of the roster.

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Rush said: “I fundamentally disagree with this type of hazing. It is not within my job description or contract to perform duties of this kind. … I feel very strongly about this matter being a young African American male. I find these demands to be racially insensitive.”

Rush said he was also told that other wrestlers were “talking negatively” about him behind his back because of his unwillingness to do so.

At the time of the allegations, he was acting as Bobby Lashley's manager and a part-time wrestler on Raw. Rush stopped appearing as Lashley's manager following Lashley's loss to Finn Balor at WrestleMania 35 in April 2019.

During his hiatus from WWE television, there were rumors of Rush's having backstage heat, and he addressed those suggestions in an interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp in May 2019. Rush brought up his issues with hazing and also suggested he wasn't being compensated enough to pay for hotels and rental cars on the road.

Rush resurfaced in September 2019 as part of the revamped cruiserweight division in NXT, and he quickly beat Drew Gulak for the title. Rush dropped it to Angel Garza in December and was then released from the company in April as part of budget cuts reportedly due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Since his release, Rush has been engaged in a feud with WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry on social media, as Rush took issue with Henry's saying Rush lied to him about his backstage heat and Henry's suggestion that Rush needed to be smarter with his finances.

Rush is a free agent at a difficult time since the pandemic is impacting businesses across the globe, but at just 25 years of age with incredible athleticism and the gift of gab, Rush figures to land on his feet.

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