NXT News: Former Champion Says He Was ‘Played’ By WWE

Ever since WWE released dozens of superstars in mid-April, many have decided to speak their minds on their time spent with the company. Lio Rush is one of those who is no longer employed by Vince McMahon, and he was heading into the stratosphere as a young up-and-comer. Now, he’s saying that the company “played” him and that he was “fooled” by WWE.

Rush has kept his name in the spotlight since receiving his release from the wrestling giant. Unfortunately, it has not always been for the best reasons. He was a recent guest of Ryback on his Conversation With The Big Guy podcast, where he gave his full thoughts on his former employer.

Rush first spoke of issues that he had with receiving pay from WWE and how things played out with Triple H. At one point, he said he was off for nearly six or seven months, and he started thinking of moving away from the wrestling business, as reported by Ringside News.

It was then that Triple H called Rush, explaining what was necessary for him to return to the ring. Upon his comeback, he was moved to NXT and ended up winning the Cruiserweight Championship, which he held for two months before losing it to Angel Garza.

After losing the belt, he moved into random matches on NXT and 205 Live before being released.

The championship was something that Rush had wanted for a long time, and he admitted it was a big deal. The only problem is that it wasn’t nearly enough, and he felt as if WWE continued to disrespect him and play him for a fool.

“As happy as I was that I was able to live out a dream and win a WWE Championship? In front of my family, in front of my fans, my friends, and stuff like that? It was very disappointing and underwhelming. Just because I got played, I was fooled. And I blame myself for that. Because I should have. I should have known that that was gonna happen based off of past experiences with them [WWE].”

According to ProFightDB, Rush’s last televised match for WWE was a disqualification win over Tony Nese on the February 28 edition of 205 Live.

Since his mid-April release, Rush made headlines after getting into a social media fight with WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry. Both of the former superstars accused the other of slander, which led to Henry threatening to sue Rush.