AEW‘s Lio Rush is flaunting his success to anyone who criticizes his new gimmick.
Lio Rush debuted his new “Blackheart” gimmick at AEW Revolution when he entered the 21-man Blackjack Battle Royal for the National Championship. As part of his new demonic persona, Rush sports a bald look with white contacts and exhibits eerie, creature-like movements, crawling around on all fours. The commentary team even compared him to a fast-moving Gollum (of Lord of the Rings fame).
He then followed it up with a similar performance against Tommaso Ciampa on the Slam Dunk Sunday edition of AEW Collision on March 22, but ended up losing the match. While Lio Rush gained a lot of attention with his new gimmick, online wrestling fans, as usual, were divided. Some criticized his new persona, expressing confusion about why he’s suddenly acting completely different without any explanation.
Despite the polarizing reactions, Lio Rush’s new gimmick is doing big numbers across AEW’s social media, amassing over 20 million views in under 24 hours since his appearance at Collision. Rush didn’t shy away from flaunting his success, as he took to X/Twitter to answer all his critics with the stats.
“Less than 24hrs. 20M+ HE hears you,” he posted.
Lio Rush also made his presence felt in AEW’s sister promotion, Ring of Honor, as he defeated Nathan Cruz during a ROH TV taping in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 22.
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