Lio Rush Reflects On If Pro Wrestling Is Embracing African American Culture
From Mark Henry to Booker T to Bobby Lashley to factions including only African Americans like "Hit Row Records" and "The New Day", the wrestling business, in general, has made massive strides featuring all ethnicities as top talent.
Currently, both WWE and All Elite Wrestling have African American talent holding championship gold and it's been that way for several years, with stars like Bobby Lashley, Big E, and Scorpio Sky recently holding major championships.
During an exclusive Wrestling Inc. interview with Managing Editor Nick Hausman, Rush gave his opinion on how the wrestling industry is currently embracing the culture of African Americans.
"I think the business is making strides, it's not moving as quickly as a lot of people may want it to move but I definitely do think it's making strides," Rush said. "One step forward is a step forward, you know what I mean? So I love where it's at right now, where it's heading, you can see where it's heading and progress is being made.
Rush believes we're starting to see more African American talent be showcased "in every promotion," not just in AEW, WWE, and Impact.
"You're starting to see just how talented we are, you're starting to see how marketable we can be and it's a beautiful thing," Rush said. "You're seeing so many different characters and so many different layers of what an African American talent is. We're not just a music artist or we're not just a thug. I love seeing the direction within the character development of black pro wrestlers within wrestling right now."
As far as what's next for his career, the 27-year-old has a new EP [extended play] album titled "Not Found 2"mout now. Rush last wrestled in January for PWG at the Battle of Los Angeles pay-per-view against AEW superstar Buddy Matthews. His contract expired with AEW expired earlier this year and the star has yet to make an appearance for another company since, though he is currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling.