Tony Khan is wishing Lio Rush the best in the next step of his professional life.
Tony Khan issued the following statement on Wednesday morning shortly after Rush announced his in-ring retirement:
Lio Rush reached out to me today, and he shared that he’d planned to announce his retirement from pro wrestling tonight. While this news was unexpected, I’m glad that he’s made a choice that he’s confident will make him and his family happy.
Lio is a great talent, and I enjoyed briefly working with him, and I absolutely wish him the best.
Tony Khan
President & CEO, All Elite Wrestling
Lio Rush announced his retirement from wrestling on Tuesday night, revealing that he separated his AC joint during his AEW debut in the Casino Battle Royale at Double or Nothing on May 30. He went on to explain that the timing of the injury caused him to re-evaluate his situation and it led to the retirement announcement.
Related: Lio Rush Announces Retirement From Professional Wrestling
Rush also said AEW was willing to sign him despite the injury; Tony Khan participated in a post-show media scrum after AEW Double Or Nothing and said Rush was on a ‘handshake’ deal at the time, but hoped to have him back in the future.
“I haven’t like a ‘pen to paper’ [deal] but Lio and I have a handshake [deal] that he can work here and New Japan both, and that we’d want to do it and he’d want to keep working here. I think we worked something pretty good out on a handshake. I think he’s doing that on a handshake with New Japan too,” Khan said during the scrum. “That’s kinda what we’ve been doing with New Japan and it’s been pretty good. I think it’s a good way to work, and so far, so good.”
