When Lio Rush was announced as the Joker entrant in the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing 2021, it was a big deal for AEW. An indie stalwart who spent the better part of four years in WWE as a wrestler and manager for Bobby Lashley, Rush was released like so many other wrestlers as part of “budget cuts” due to COVID-19. After finding a second life on the indies working matches for the likes of New Japan Pro Wrestling – NJPW Strong, to be specific – and GCW, Rush was suddenly set to join AEW, Tony Khan's company that champions, not jeered at, his preferred style of wrestling? What a perfect opportunity for the Washington D.C. native to shine.

And initially, Rush did just that. Though he didn't win the DoN Casino Cattle Royal, he actually suffered an injury during the match, fans were mostly excited to see what Rush could do in AEW but between that injury, other commitments to NJPW Strong, and some backstage strife, it wasn't meant to be; Rush didn't have his contract renewed in February of 2022, and after suffering an injury at the hands of Buddy Matthews at PWG's Battle of Los Angeles one month prior, he was out of action until October.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, Rush was asked if he would ever consider returning to AEW and actually gave a pretty nuanced response in regard to his feelings about his former boss.

“Uhm, I think so. I think anything is possible if you have the right intentions if you’re coming from the right place,” Rush said via Fightful. “I like Tony a lot. I really like Tony. I think that’s the first time I’m saying that out loud [laughs]. Yeah, I do like Tony. One thing that made me so willing to give AEW a chance [is the fact that] I feel like I was scarred from my WWE run. I feel like I was, you know, traumatized a little bit. Tony liked me a lot, I feel like we connected pretty quickly, and I feel like that’s why there was a lot of emotion involved. I probably shouldn’t have brought the emotion out, but again, I’m glad I did… you know. I’m glad I showed people that I stand for something [and that] I care about myself and I care about others. It’s not always about a paycheck to me. Yeah. I’m sorry, I’m kind of.. this is huge for me. This is the first time that I’m really speaking on it. I’ve talked about, but I haven’t really, really talked about it in that sense about my relationship with Tony and stuff like that.”

For fans of AEW and/or Ring of Honor, this is pretty good news, as Rush has been killing it in NJPW, having won the Super Junior Tag League with YOH under the CHAOS banner, and has also worked compelling matches for MLW and back in GCW. But could Rush actually return? Well, he has had multiple conversations with Khan since leaving the promotion, so who knows?

Lio Rush has continued to stay in contact with AEW's Tony Khan.

Delving into the topic a little further, Rush actually let it be known that not only did he have a good relationship with Khan, but he still does, as he still talks to his former boss from time to time.

“Yeah, I’ve talked to him a few times (since leaving AEW),” Rush said. “We’ve talked a number of times. It’s always great, it’s always, you know, ‘How [have] you’ve been? Good to hear from you.’ If the show is in the area, I try to pop out and see it and stuff like that. The love is still there, the support is still there, there’s just other factors into me actually being there. I’m doing so much right now, I’m happy with what I’m doing. It’s not like I’m really trying to force something to happen. If it happens, it happens. I love the direction that I’m going in right now, I love what I’m doing. I’m glad that I feel like I don’t really have any true bad blood within wrestling. I feel like with me being so active right now and being in front of people… it’s a lot different when you’re in front of somebody. You can see them, you can feel their energy and kinda get a feel for why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

Wow, well that certainly isn't nothing. If AEW finds the need to further bolster their TNT Championship talent pool, Tony Khan wants to add a cruiserweight to the ROH roster who could give Samoa Joe and/or Wheeler Yuta a run for his money regarding their respective championships or wants to give Swerve Strickland a new tag team partner, maybe TK will give the Man of the Hour a call?