What happened between Lio Rush and AEW President Tony Khan?
Lio Rush will not be renewing his AEW contract in the wake of a very public outcry over Tony Khan's conduct regarding the Big Swole situation.
Big Swole, who left AEW recently after both sides reportedly mutually agreed not to renew her contract, gave an interview about the areas she felt AEW was lacking in.
Two of the things she pointed out were the diversity representation in AEW and the booking structure in the company, which saw some of the talent feature on Dark and Elevation as opposed to Rampage and Dynamite.
Here are Big Swole's full statements on why she chose to leave AEW. https://t.co/0FkXT575Nc
Tony Khan didn't hold back in his response as he gave numerous examples of diversity within his roster and ended his tweet by mentioning that he chose not to renew Big Swole's contract as he felt she wasn't a good enough wrestler.
The response from the boss drew the ire of many people online, including Lio Rush.
The Man of the Hour expressed his disagreement with Tony Khan's response publicly on social media before demanding the boss apologize to Big Swole.
APOLOGIZE. @TonyKhan @AEW
Tony Khan has not booked Lio Rush since then on AEW programming
Lio Rush and Dante Martin were involved in a feud against Team Taz, one that saw Taz and Lio compete to get the young sensation on board with them. Dante Martin pretended to side with the Human Suplex Machine's team before betraying them.
However, since the former Bobby Lashley manager called out Tony Khan, he hasn't been seen on All Elite Wrestling television.
Jay Lethal has seemingly replaced him in the storyline, and Lio Rush announced that he would be a free agent on 14th February 2022.
I’m a free agent. https://t.co/aZwy8F8O6O
It should be noted that a few days after the Big Swole controversy, the former WWE Cruiserweight star tweeted that he sat down with the Fulham and Jaguars boss for a discussion over diversity representation.
He claimed the meeting went well and his points were well heard.
There have been no reports on whether there was any disagreement between the two or a falling out. All we know is that Rush was on a short contract that is due to expire soon.
Him not featuring on the shows could be a result of something backstage, but that is unclear as of now.