Mark Henry responds to Lio Rush's criticisms, invites him on Busted Open Radio
Former WWE Superstar Lio Rush called out Mark Henry Thursday morning for his continued criticism and Henry responded on Twitter.
In a retweet from Lio Rush's Twitter feed, Mark Henry said that he didn't have to answer to anyone and that he can't make wrestlers do what he knows works within WWE.
Later that morning, Henry would respond to Rush giving him the number to call into the show so the two can address their issues with each other.
The heat between Mark Henry and Lio Rush continues
The comments from Lio Rush started early Thursday morning after Rush saw Henry answering questions about heat between himself and the former Cruiserweight Champion.
Henry said that his only issue was that he offered Rush help to navigate the WWE system, but Rush didn't take it. This lead to Rush sending a series of tweets being critical of Henry for continuing to bury him and for making what the two of them talked about privately a public conversation.
The heat between Rush and Henry stemmed from 2019 when Rush was rumored to have backstage heat and issues with other wrestlers in WWE. Henry says he asked Rush if there was an issue and was told there wasn't a problem. Rush would do an interview with Fightful where he claimed he wasn't being compensated well enough for his role as Bobby Lashley's manager and discussed how he had to carry bags and waters for other wrestlers.
"We have fans that travel all over the globe and watch us get off of buses and into hotels, the LOOK of a black kid carrying waters and bags for other wrestlers is just not a good look, especially when I’m trying to portray myself as a superstar as well."
Henry would address the issue on his show, SiriusXM Busted Open, where he said Rush lied to him about the issues and that he should change his spending habits if money is a problem.
I pulled him aside and told him, 'Hey, man. I'm hearing stuff in the locker room. What's up?' 'Oh, there's nothing wrong.' It was a blatant lie to my face. I was trying to help him. And he lied to my face.
WWE released Rush in April 2020 due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former Cruiserweight Champion had previous instances of backstage heat, like when he made a joke about former WWE Superstar Tenille Dashwood being fired after losing to Asuka on an episode of RAW in 2017.
Rush was chastised for his comments by Bray Wyatt, Samoa Joe, Peyton Royce of The Iconics and different members of the roster and fanbase.
There were other reported incidents of backstage heat from Rush's time in WWE included a discussion with Finn Balor regarding the former bringing his wife backstage to shows and being removed from the WWE roster due to his insistence to have his wife present at shows.