Lio Rush Abruptly Retires, Could Aleister Black Return To WWE

Just as quickly as he debuted for AEW, Lio Rush abruptly retires from wrestling. And, though recently released, could Aleister Black return to WWE sooner than we think?

Lio Rush Abruptly Retires

If you followed him on social media, you may know this, but for those who do not: Lio Rush abruptly retired from professional wrestling on Tuesday.

The news may seem a bit odd. Lio Rush only recently debuted for AEW, following his WWE release.

There were mixed reactions to his abrupt retirement as well, including a now-deleted post from a former WWE colleague, as captured and shared via numerous sites.

So, what happened?

While Lio Rush only recently arrived to AEW, his arrival resulted in a shoulder injury. Based on that development, the former WWE Superstar opted to retire from in ring competition.

It is important to note that he still has contractual obligations to NJPW as well. For those, Rush said he would honor them, but beyond that he would be done wrestling.

This is an interesting development for a performer who has been a bit of a lightning rod throughout the past few years.

While in WWE, he had reportedly earned a reputation for being a bit rough to deal with, both in and out of the ring. Some suspect that perhaps that is why his former co-worker had the now-deleted post out there.

Plus, this would not be the first time that Lio Rush either implicitly or explicitly discussed his retirement.

That said, retiring and then unretiring is nothing new within professional wrestling. Plenty of Superstars have done so numerous times (Ric Flair, Terry Funk, Shawn Michaels etc.).

Of course…Lio Rush is not on that level…but perhaps at least has the retirement itch in common.

Could Aleister Black Return To WWE

Speaking of former WWE Superstars, Aleister Black was only let go last week…but could Aleister Black return to WWE sooner than expected?

According to PWInsider, there’s a bit of a grass roots campaign from the locker room to have Aleister Black return to WWE.

We know from history that Aleister Black has some fans among the talent. He was one whom Paul Heyman was very much high on.

If you got to catch his work in NXT, it is easy to get excited for Black.

Sadly, his main roster run never matched his NXT success.

However, whether it is Paul Heyman or any number of other WWE employees or contractors, there seems to be a push to have him return to WWE.

The report indicates that folks think WWE gave up on him too soon and made a mistake by letting him go.

Collectively, I think many fans can nod in agreement to that one. 

Releasing Black, especially with how it was timed, was among the biggest head-scratching moves in recent WWE memory. Actually up there with throwing gobs of cash and Mike and Maria Kanellis.

The man was on the shelf from an injury. In order to bring him back, they tweaked his character and invested money in nicely done animated vignettes to announce his return.

A couple weeks after he returns, they let him go as a “cost cutting move”.

If you really want to cut costs…you cut before you make the vignettes and invest that time and money.

But, there does seem to be some effort to change things, and perhaps Aleister Black could return to WWE.

Crazier things have happened, after all. Black’s wife left WWE on seemingly terrible terms just late last year. She has since returned to the company, but has yet to re-debut.

So…anything is possible…