Lio Rush Says He Was Supposed to Win Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 35

Recently-released WWE star Lio Rush said in a new interview that he was supposed to win the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 35. Rush, who was among those released last month in WWE’s cuts, spoke with Fightful for a new interview and discussed how his storyline with Bobby Lashley at the time was intended to culminate in his capturing the IC Championship.

“People are gonna like this, but at the same time, they’re not, because I remember a lot of people were saying it. At the time, they were going to have me win the Intercontinental Championship while I was with Bobby and the whole and the whole storyline with Finn [Balor],” Rush said. “They were gonna have me win the title. But I forgot what happened. I forgot what happened and why that wasn’t the case. I think the idea came from Elimination Chamber, where it was me and Bobby versus Finn in like a handicap match and I think they were going to do it again at WrestleMania but I was gonna be the one to win the title and it was just gonna throw everybody off. But yeah, for whatever reason, that got scratched.”

The storyline in question saw Rush get pinned by Balor at Elimination Chamber 2019 during a handicap match where Rush was teaming with Lashley. That gave Balor the championship, and Rush would go on to try and win back Lashley’s trust in him. Instead, Lashley (who won back the title from Balor in March) defended the title against Balor at WrestleMania and lost. Rush disappeared from WWE TV amid reports of heat within the company and was gone until September, when he returned on NXT en route to a Cruiserwight Championship run.