Lio Rush Talks Breaking Stereotypes In WWE

The #1 contender for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, Lio Rush, recently appeared on The Sit Down to talk about his career as a pro wrestler and his blossoming career in music.

As seen above, Rush believes that his particular career may experience improved longevity over other wrestlers who were not as "smart" with their decisions.

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"That's true – a lot of not smart wrestlers don't make it to a certain age," Rush commented.

It's no secret that WWE has used racial stereotypes to shape their characters in the past. Arguably the company's greatest villain in the 80s was the Iron Sheik after the infamous Iranian Hostage situation took place from '79-'81; they since have featured stars like The Mexicools, the faction of Latino stars that came out on "Juan Deere" tractors, Cryme Tyme, the duo of black stars that were notorious for being thieves, and even Jinder Mahal's recent 2017 WWE title reign had some fans disappointed on his race being such an emphasis of the gimmick.

Rush admitted that examples of past booking in WWE did initially turn him off from working with the company, however, he feels like he has successfully avoided representing any black stereotypes.

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"I always had that fear getting into it at first," Rush admitted. "Then I felt like I broke that stereotype just because of the things that I was doing and showing that I'm not your typical stereotype, black wrestler who's like flipping, and flopping, and dancing around and s–t."

If you want to use any quotes from this article, please credit The Sit Down with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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