NJPW star Lio Rush has announced his retirement from pro wrestling.
Rush took to Instagram and Twitter tonight to make the announcement. He revealed that he separated his AC joint during his surprise appearance in the Casino Battle Royale at AEW’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view on May 31, which was his debut for the company.
Rush noted in his new statement that AEW still wanted to sign him, while he was signed to NJPW, but he re-evaluated things after dealing with the injury, and has decided to retire. Rush says he will fulfill his NJPW contract obligations once he is healed, and then hang his boots up.
It was recently reported that Rush was on a handshake deal with AEW following the pay-per-view debut, and that he was signed to a NJPW contract. He has made multiple NJPW Strong appearances, and competed in the Super J-Cup, and he could’ve worked for the company in Japan if it weren’t for COVID-19 restrictions.
Rush was released from his WWE contract on April 15, 2020. Since then he has found success in other companies, winning the AAA World Cruiserweight Title and the MLW World Middleweight Title.
Stay tuned for more on Rush’s retirement and future. You can read his full statement below, along with an x-ray photo he posted to Instagram:
“I have written and erased this post so many times purely out of not being able to wrap my head around this. The moment I went home in a sling, I kept saying to myself ‘this was like any other time I got a little bruise or strain and I will shrug it off and continue on my new journey’. Once the pain subsided and i started to feel just how uncomfortable it was to feel my arm hanging from my body, I sunk into an immediate and rapidly growing depression because i knew something was wrong…
Got the news that I’d be taking some time off due to this injury. Me thinking it would only affect my wrestling obligations, i still tried to go on about my days as i knew them. I realized just how much this would affect my everyday life. For anyone who knows me, you know that i work endlessly for me and my family. It became more and more frustrating everyday finding little things that i could no longer do. Like simply putting on a shirt and a much harder fact to deal with, not being able to pick up my newborn son…
Now here comes the part that kept me up every night since. #DoubleOrNothing …..Knowing that i just made my surprise debut in one of the most exciting times in my career. That part sucked. But I’m grateful. Grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had this past year after my WWE release. So cool of #AEW still wanting to sign me despite separating my AC in the Casino Battle Royal. Which would have lead to me being the first person in history to be signed to two major wrestling organizations simultaneously. This is an unexpected turn down a road i would have and could have never saw coming…
But I’m looking at this as a blessing in disguise. Since the injury, it’s given me some time to think. Think about what i want in life. What i want for my wife and my kids, and what’s going to make me happy as far as my mental health is concerned. The timing of this injury has forced me to stop and re evaluate and ultimately it’s resulted in making the decision to retire from professional wrestling…
Thank you to the fans who have fought it out with me for the past 7 years and the people in my corner. Thank you to all the promoters and friends that I’ve met along the way who believe in me and my vision. This has been a great ride, but it’s time to get off and do what truly makes me happy. Due to contractual obligations with NJPW, i will be making final appearances once i am healed. But for now, thank you all from the Bottom of my heart and I’ll see you all soon.
For future business inquiries email – RushLioRush@gmail.com”
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