Lio Rush Returns To The Ring Amid Rumors Of His WWE Status

There has been speculation on Lio Rush’s status with WWE after he removed WWE references from his Twitter account earlier this week and changed his location from Orlando, Florida to his hometown of Washington, D.C. The 23-year-old is still with WWE as he returned to the ring at last night’s NXT live event in Lakeland, Florida.

Rush picked up a win in a match against Adrian Jaoude.

He came to collect! #NXTLakeland pic.twitter.com/ENTDVLwV2T

— Tarra (@Tarratastic) December 1, 2017

Lio Rush vs Adrian #NxtLakeland 🙌🏼 pic.twitter.com/tfdwbp9uVh

— MORGUNSHOW (@MorGunShow) December 1, 2017

#NxtLakeland AND YOUR WINNER LIO RUSH , he came to collect ! pic.twitter.com/bR2WlSDL0Q

— MORGUNSHOW (@MorGunShow) December 1, 2017

This is his first match since making an ill-advised joke on Twitter when Emma was released by WWE on October 29. In a report on Monday, PWinsider.com cited this as the reason he wasn’t being used.

Rush, who later deleted the tweet, wrote, “I guess these are the things that happen when you’re not TRULY ready for @WWEAsuka.”

The tweet received criticism pretty quickly, including Peyton Royce pointing out that Rush just got to NXT and telling him that professionalism goes a long way. Bray Wyatt was one of the wrestlers from the main roster to respond, saying that Rush “ain’t gonna make it here with the wolves.”

Rush quickly issued an apology, but the damage had been done. According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the heat was so bad that there was talk of cutting him. While some people in WWE see Rush as a future WWE star, the heat still lingers and “he’s been on ice every since.”