Lio Rush Issues Statement Responding to WWE Rumors of Backstage Heat

Lio Rush issued a statement on allegations that he has heat backstage, saying there will "always be people out there that'll try to tear you down."

Rush's full statement reads: 

"The fact of the matter is no matter what you do you do in life, no matter what route you take, you'll always have people out there that'll try to tear you down. Tell you that you can't be or do something. Try to stomp on your name and hault your success. The fact of the matter is that i love what i do and have been in love with the dreams of being in the current position that I'm in now since i was 5 years old . The fact of the matter is that i am a young, hungry, and humble husband and father of two boys who believes in himself more than anybody will ever believe in me.

"The fact of the matter is that i am a passionate African American male in America who takes my passion seriously and will do whatever it takes to change me and my family's situation. The fact of the matter is that I've overcome neglect, suicide, anxiety, depression, and everything else at a very young age that a human of my current age should never have to go through. The fact of the matter is that you can beat these demons, achieve what you've sought out to achieve. The fact of the matter is that i do what i do for the people like me. For the people who struggle, for the people who fight, for the kids who dream and for the men and woman with hope. The fact of the matter is that you don't always know the facts and that's ok."

Thursday's Wrestling Observer Newsletter said Rush had rubbed people the wrong way because of his backstage confidence: 

"There's internal heat on Lio Rush. On Raw this week, he wasn't out with Lashley (neither were on Raw itself but Lashley worked the dark match main event). Rush is a very confident man. That can rub people the wrong way, even though you have to have that to be a star in this business. The story goes that he's made it very clear to many people that he thinks he should be a/the top guy on the brand, and hasn't been shy about saying it.”

This is not the first time Rush has alienated people in the WWE locker room. He drew harsh criticism from coworkers after making a joke about Emma following her releasefrom the company. The controversy resulted in Rush issuing an apology, though some within the company were not receptive.

Rush, 24, performs as both Bobby Lashley's manager and as a wrestler on 205 Live. He was not seen on television this week.