Lio Rush Wants To Be The First African-American AEW World Champion

Lio Rush has revealed his dream of becoming the first African-American AEW World Champion.

Rush has recently returned to All Elite Wrestling, having previously retired, and the former WWE NXT Cruiserweight champion is harbouring a dream of being the promotion's first-ever black World Champion.

The 26-year-old believes representation is important and wants to provide youngsters with the sort of role model he didn't have many of as a child.

Speaking to Forbes, Rush said: "Representation, it changes lives. I didn’t have too many good examples of someone who can set the blueprint for somebody like me. At the time, when I was a wrestling fan, there wasn’t a short, Black, tattooed, dread-head guy who likes music from D.C. So the path that I was going, I was creating. I think that has opened up doors for a lot of people, but I want to be a world champion. I think I’m more than capable.

“If I’m not ready for something, I’ll say I’m not ready for something. But I’m ready. I’ve been ready. I want to take that step. I want to be that guy that everybody is looking at and say ‘Man, he did it. And he did it through the face of adversity.’ Because I’ve had some ups and downs in my career, and I’ve showed time and time again that I’m not someone who’s going to just lay down and give up on my passion and my dreams. I think that’s a good role model, just in life.

"Wrestling aside, to see someone like myself move the way that I move in life and inspire the people who look like me is a beautiful thing.  I want to be that. I want to be that for everybody, and I think that I can be that. I think I have the mic skills, I think that I have the in-ring capability, I think that I’m a pretty personable and likable person. And I think I’m real. I think I’m honest. This is a glass panel right here, I don’t hold anything back and I think that’s what a champion is and I want to be the first African-American world champion in AEW."