MJF Praises Lio Rush’s Work Ethic, Being Willing To Change His Character

MJF has a lot of respect for Lio Rush’s work ethic and willingness to put in the effort and change his character in order to get over. Rush has managed to strike a chord with his strange “Blackheart” character, a demonic, black ooze-infused character that he began using on AEW TV in March after having previously used it on the independent scene. The character led to Rush winning the ROH World TV Championship at ROH Global Wars; Cincinnati.

MJF was speaking with Brian Solomon on Shut Up and Wrestle when he singled Rush out for praise. While speaking of talent who don’t put in the extra work once they’ve signed with a big company, MJF mentioned Rush as a guy who could have rested on his laurels after his WWE run but has continued to train and improve himself. You can see the highlights below:

On Talent Not Striving to Improve:

“So, here’s my thing. I’ve been doing this now, it’s been 12 years coming up on 13. And before I got signed to AEW, I was wrestling a minimum of four times a week on the independent circuit. A minimum. And then on top of that, I was training at Create-A-Pro. So now, you see guys — and it’s not even necessary for me to name names, because you will be able to picture them in your heads as I explained the example. I will see guys get signed young like I did, but they didn’t wrestle three to four times every single week, nor are they training after they got signed. Because it’s ‘Oh, I’m making big money now. Great, I’m just going to rest on my laurels.’

“That makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t relate to it. I don’t feel bad for these guys if they’re bitching and whining about the way that they’re being given opportunity. Earn the opportunity. If you want to earn the opportunity, get polished. Work hard, figure something out, figure a way in.”

On Rush:

“I’m gonna put a guy over real quick. Lio Rush, and I’ll tell you why. Me and him both got signed very young. Me to AEW, him to WWE. And it would have been very easy for him to rest on his laurels. But that dude trains all the time.

“That dude then realized, ‘Okay, this thing I’ve been doing for a decade since I was a young guy, It’s not working anymore. I’m going to switch it up now.’ Again, as we discussed, his flavor of ice cream that he’s doing now might not be your flavor of ice cream that you’re interested in. But it’s gotten him on television and it’s gotten him opportunities. And he’s going on the indies, and he’s doing this Blackheart thing on a weekly basis on the independents as well. So, you can’t look me in the face and tell me that this guy isn’t earning his television time. So, I respect that immensely, and I wish there were more guys like him in our age group.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Shut Up and Wrestle with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.