Lio Rush

Rush in May 2023

###

Lanham, Maryland, United States

**Lionel Gerard Green** (born November 11, 1994), better known by the ring name **Lio Rush**, is an American professional wrestler currently dual signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Impact Wrestling (IMPACT), where he is the current Impact X-Division Champion in his first reign.

Rush is best known for his work in WWE, where he was a former NXT Cruiserweight Champion, and also the youngest champion in history. During his time on the main roster he also served as the manager and mouthpiece of Bobby Lashley.

In 2020, Rush was released from WWE as part of budget cuts relating to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Soon after, Rush began appearing for the promotion until signining full-time the year after. Rush began a hiatus from multiple injuries until returning in October 2022, joining CHAOS and forming a partnership with Yoh.

## Early life

Green was born to two gospel singers. His childhood bedroom sat above his father's recording studio. He remembered wanting to be a professional wrestler since he was five years old. As a teenager and into early adulthood, Green struggled with mental health issues. During his teenage years, there was a point where it got so severe that he had to be hospitalized for a few days.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early Career (2014–2017)

Rush debuted under the ring name "LI Green", but after a negative response to the name from promoters, he changed it to "Lennon Duffy". He learned to wrestle during 2014 with MCW Training Center. He debuted at the 2014 Tribute to the Legends and created a tag team named "Sudden Impact" with Patrick Clark, who would go on to work for WWE as Velveteen Dream. On July 18, he won the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup XV, defeating Brandon Scott, Drolix, Eddie Edwards, Matt Cross and Shane Strickland in a six-way elimination match. On October 3, he and his teammate Patrick Clark won the MCW Tag Team Championship, defeating The Hell Cats and The Ecktourage. They lost the title thirteen days later to The Ecktourage. He also competed for Evolve Wrestling where he defeated Fred Yehi on November 6. He lost his match against Ethan Page the following day. Lucha Libre Elite announced Rush as a participant in the Elite World Championship. On Thursday June 23, 2016, Rush defeated David Tita in the first day of the Elite World Championship to make the quarter final. On Saturday June 25, 2016, he was defeated by Michael Elgin. On February 18, 2017, Rush made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at "Only Kings Understand Each Other", where he was defeated by Ricochet.

### New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2020-Present)

Soon after being released from WWE as part of budget cuts relating to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, on November 2, Rush was announced as a participant of the 2020 Super J-Cup. Leading to the tournament, NJPW began airing a vignette showcasing Rush's participation in the tournament. On December 12, Rush made his in-ring debut taking part in the Super J-Cup, losing to the eventual winner of the tournament, El Phantasmo in the first round, after Phantasmo cheated to win the match. On January 29, at Lion's Break Contender, Rush and Phantasmo faced each other in a six-man tag team match, which Rush picked up the win for his team, after pinning Phantasmo. Two days later, NJPW officially announced a rematch. On February 19, at The New Beginning in USA, Rush lost again to Phantasmo in their rematch. On March 1, NJPW announced the second edition of the New Japan Cup USA of the tournament, featuring qualifying matches for spots in the tournament taking place through March. On March 5, Rush defeated Rocky Romero in order to qualify for the tournament. From April 9 to April 23, Rush took part in the second New Japan Cup USA, defeating Clark Connors in the first round before losing to tournament finalist Brody King.

As part of a working relationship between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Rush made an appearance for All Elite Wrestling at their Double or Nothing pay-per-view during the Casino Battle Royale match as the "Joker", where he was eliminated by Matt Hardy with help from Private Party. After the match, Rush sustained an injury and announced his retirement from professional wrestling, only to later announce he signed a contract with NJPW, while AEW also offered him a contract. On September 29, Rush officially signed with AEW. It was later revealed that Rush signed with AEW with the approval of NJPW, due to at the time being unable to travel to Japan due to the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic, with Rush staying in AEW for the time being. On January 22, 2022, Rush revealed that his AEW contract was set to expire February 14, 2022, and became a free agent on that date. Rush later revealed that that he chose not to resign with AEW due to disagreements with AEW President and Head of the Creative Tony Khan, citing lack of vision during his time in the promotion, while also stating that his gimmick in the promotion was thrown on him and that he did not choose it for himself.

On January 30, during a match against Buddy Matthews, Rush sustained another injury. Rush later revealed that he sustained a severe shoulder injury that would require six to nine months to recover. On May 14, at Captial Collision, Rush made his first appearance since he got injured, citing that when he was cleared, he would change the entire landscape of the junior heavyweight division, citing Robbie Eagles, Taiji Ishimori and Hiromu Takahashi as wrestlers, whom he wanted to face with. Afterwards, Rush announced that would provide color commentary for the rest of the event. After nine months, on September 29, Rush announced that he was cleared to compete again. He was later announced to take part in the British' Revolution Pro-Wrestling promotion's British J-Cup. On October 22, Rush took part in RevPro's British J-Cup, losing in the first round to Leon Slater.

On October 28 at Rumble on 44th Street, Rush became the newest member of CHAOS, after assisting Yoh during a match against the House of Torture, whom CHAOS had been feuding with. Afterwards, Rush and Yoh began forming a partnership. On November 20, at Historic X-Over, Rush made his first Japanese appearance in NJPW, teaming with CHAOS stablemates, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi and Yoh in a winning effort against the House of Torture. In November, Rush made his first Japanese tournament appearance in NJPW, taking part in the 2022 Super Jr. Tag League alongside Yoh. Both finished the tournament with a record seven wins and two losses, advancing to the finals. On December 14, Rush and Yoh defeated Ace Austin and Chris Bey in the finals to win the 2022 Super Jr. Tag League.

On January 4, 2023 at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Tokyo Dome, Rush and Yoh unsucessfully challenged Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira and TJP) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On February 5, at The New Beginning in Sapporo, after Hiromu Takahashi defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Yoh, Rush, in a pre-taped vignette, challenged Takahashi to a title match, promising to win the title. On March 21, at the final day of the 2023 New Japan Cup, Rush unsucessfully challenged Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. In May, Rush took part in the 2023 Best of the Super Juniors. He finished the tournament with a record of six wins and three losses, narrowly failed to advance to the semifinals after losing to Titán in their head-to-head match.

On August 20, at Multiverse United 2, Rush pinned reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi in a tag team match, before challenging him to a title match. On August 23, NJPW announced a three-way match between Rush, Takahashi, and Mike Bailey for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Destruction in Ryogoku. However, Rush was forced to pull of out of the title match, due to illness, leading him to be replaced by his partner Yoh.

## Other media

In 2020, Rush was announced as a contestant on the thirty-sixth season of MTV's reality competition series *The Challenge*, and was initially paired with *Love Island* alumna Gabby Allen. He left the show on his own accord in episode 6, citing mental health reasons and the stress of the house triggering his childhood feelings of living in a group home.

## Personal life

Green resides in Los Angeles, California. He has three sons. He married Sarah Wah on December 21, 2018. Green stated that the tattoo he has on his stomach is a poem that was written by his mother for his deceased brother, Lorenzo, who died at a young age. Green also stated that he did not know about his brother until his mother told him about him on his first day of high school.

## In Wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *Rush Hour* (Spanish Fly)
	+ *Spinning Kamikaze* (Twisting inverted double underhook facebuster)
	+ *Final Hour* (Split-legged frog splash)
* **Signature moves**
	+ *Asai Moonsault* (Springboard moonsault onto a standing opponent outside of the ring)
	+ Cannonball senton
	+ Crossface chickenwing
	+ Frankensteiner
	+ Multiple kick variations
		- Handstand
		- Low Super/step-up enzuigiri combination
		- Multiple dropkick variations
			* Single leg
			* Shotgun
			* Standing
		- Shoot
		- Spin
		- *Spinal Tap* (Snampare back)
		- Step-up Enziguiri
		- Super
		- Tornado corkscrew roundhouse
	+ Multiple slaps followed by a forearm strike
	+ Multiple suplex variations
		- Belly-to-back
		- Vertical
		- Snap
	+ Reverse elbow strike
	+ Springboard Hurricarrana
	+ Suicide Dive
	+ Tilt-a-whirl DDT
	+ *The Come Up* (Rebound Stunner)
	+ Topé con hilo
* **With Yoh**
	+ *3K* (Flapjack (Rush) / Reverse STO (Yoh) combination)
* **Nicknames**
	+ "The Bad Child"
	+ "The One"
	+ **"Toki no Hito"** (Japanese for "The Man of the Hour")
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "Best Thing Out" by Lionel Green
	+ "Bad Child" by DRETT1
	+ **"I’ll Be Me"** by Lio Rush

## Championships and accomplishments

* **DDT Pro-Wrestling**
	+ Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
* **Impact Wrestling**
	+ Impact X Division Championship (1 time, current)
* **Major League Wrestling**
	+ MLW World Middleweight Championship (1 time)
* **New Japan Pro-Wrestling**
	+ Super Jr. Tag League (2022) with Yoh