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Lio Rush

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Lio Rush
Rush in January 2016
Birth nameLionel Gerard Green[1]
Born (1994-11-11) November 11, 1994 (age 29)[2]
Lanham, Maryland[3]
Children1
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Lio Rush[3]
Lennon Duffy[3]
LI Green[3]
Billed height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[4][5]
Billed weight160 lb (73 kg)[4][5]
Billed fromWashington, D.C.[5] The Distance of Colombia
Trained byMCW Training Center[3]
DebutNovember 2014[6]

Lionel Gerard Green (born November 11, 1994) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Lio Rush. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is assigned to their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he was the winner of the 2016 Top Prospect Tournament, as well as his time in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he was the former CZW World Heavyweight Champion and a former two-time CZW Wired Champion.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Green debuted under the ring name "LI Green", but after a negative response to the name from promoters, he changed it to "Lennon Duffy".[3]

Independent circuit (2014–2017)

He learned wrestling during 2014 with MCW Training Center. He debuted at the 2014 Tribute To The Legends and created a tag team named "Sudden Impact" with Patrick Clark.[5] On July 18, he won the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup XV, defeating Brandon Scott, Drolix, Eddie Edwards, Matt Cross and Shane Strickland in a six-way elimination match.[7] On October 3, he and his teammate Patrick Clark won the MCW Tag Team Championship, defeating The Hell Cats and The Ecktourage.[8] They lost the title thirteen days later to The Ecktourage.[9]

He also competed for Evolve Wrestling where he defeated Fred Yehi on November 6.[10] He lost his match against Ethan Page the following day.[11]

Lucha Libre Elite announced Rush as a participant in the Elite World Championship. On Thursday June 23, 2016, Rush defeated David Tita in the first day of the Elite World Championship to make the quarter final. On Saturday June 25, 2016, he was defeated by Michael Elgin.

On February 18th, 2017, Rush made his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at "Only Kings Understand Each Other", where he was defeated by Ricochet.

On May 27th, 2017, Rush defeated Ken Broadway at House of Glory's "Adrenaline" to capture the HOG Crown Jewel Championship, ending Broadway's almost year long reign. Rush lost the title to HOG World Heavyweight Champion Anthony Gangone in a title for title match at House of Glory's "Never Trust a Snake" on July 1.

Combat Zone Wrestling (2014–2017)

Green, as Lennon Duffy, made his debut for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) on December 31, 2014, defeating Slugger Clark.[12] He and Clark began to compete together as known as Sudden Impact. On September 12, he changed his name for "Lio Rush" and started a feud with Joey Janela, where he faced him, Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley at Down With the Sickness 2015, match won by Janela.[13] At Night of Infamy, on November 21, he wrestled Joey Janela for the CZW Wired Championship on a losing effort.[14] On December 12, during Cage of Death XVII, he won the CZW Wired TV Championship, defeating Janela for the title.[15] He made his first successful defense against Kevin Bennett on January 16.[16] He lost his title against Joey Janela on February 13 at CZW Seventeen.[17] On March 26, 2016, at CZW Proving Ground, Rush defeated Joey Janela, Dave Crist and David Starr to win the CZW Wired Championship. Rush lost the Wired title back to Janela in a Ladder Match at Down with The Sickness on September 10, 2016, After his feud with Janela was over he stepped out of the Wired Championship picture and started a feud with Sami Callihan becoming a heel in the process for the first time in his career and adopted a darker gimmick.[18]

On May 13, 2017, Rush beat Joe Gacy for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship. He lost the belt to Davey Richards at a non-CZW show, ending his reign at only 17 days. On July 8, Rush announced that he would be making his final CZW appearance on August 5.[19]

Ring of Honor (2015–2017)

Six months after his professional wrestling debut, Rush took part in a Ring of Honor (ROH) training camp. He, however, was not signed due to his limited experience.[3] After getting more experience wrestling on the independent circuit, Rush took part in another training camp and, now with the backing of Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, Adam Cole, Jay Lethal and Kyle O'Reilly, was signed as a participant in the 2016 Top Prospect Tournament.[3] Rush made his debut in ROH on December 19, 2015, beating Vinny Marseglia in a dark match.[20] Rush went on to compete in the 2016 Top Prospect Tournament, defeating Jason Kincaid on January 9,[21][22] going on to defeat Brian Fury on February 6 to win the tournament.[23] On March 31, ROH announced that Rush had signed a contract with the promotion.[24] On Supercard of Honor X Night 1 at April 1, 2016, Rush unsuccessfully challenged Jay Lethal for ROH World Championship. At Survival of the Fittest night one Rush defeated Misterioso Jr., Hangman Page and Sho in a Four corner survival match to be in the Survival of the Fittest tournament final. The Next night Rush was in the Survival of the Fittest match where he was the last to before he was eliminated by Bobby Fish. At Final Battle Rush replaced ACH in the Six-man tag team tournament final to determine the first ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions where he teamed with Kushida and Jay White and was defeated by The Kingdom (Matt Taven, TK O'Ryan and Vinny Marseglia). In March 2017, it was reported that Rush had given his notice to ROH.[25]

Pro Wrestling Guerilla (2017)

Rush made his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut on February 21st at the Only Kings Understand Each Other event in a loss to Ricochet. Rush then took on and defeated Trevor Lee at PWG's Nice Boys (Don't Play Rock 'N Roll).

WWE

NXT (2017–present)

On July 9, 2017, it was reported that Rush had been offered a WWE NXT contract and that his signing was imminent.[19] WWE officially confirmed the signing on August 21.[26][27] Rush debuted at the September 14 NXT tapings, where he was attacked by the Velveteen Dream (his former tag team partner Patrick Clark). Later in the tapings, Rush was defeated by Dream in a match.[28]

Personal life

Lionel resides in Lanham, Maryland where he wrestled in high school before becoming a professional wrestler. Lionel has a son.[29]

In wrestling

Rush performing the Dragon's Call
Rush performing the Rush Hour onto Kevin Bennett
Rush performing a somersault plancha

Championships and accomplishments

Rush with the CZW Wired Championship belt

References

  1. ^ "WWE signs Lio Rush". WWE. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  2. ^ "Lio Rush". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Der Griend, Blaine (May 20, 2016). "Lio Rush out to make a name for himself". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Farrell, Sean (2016-02-09). "Lanham's Lio Rush to compete for Ring of Honor contract". thesentinel.com. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "MCW Lio Rush profile". Maryland Championship Wrestling. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Shamrock Cup winner Lio Rush talks about his career influences, Tough Enough's Patrick and more". PW Insider. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  7. ^ "Lio Rush shines at MCW Shamrock Cup 15". Online World of Wrestling. July 20, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  8. ^ "MCW Tribute To The Legends". Cagematch. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  9. ^ "MCW Autumn Armageddon Tour 2015 - Tag 2". Cagematch. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  10. ^ "Csonka's Evolve 51 iPPV Review 11.06.15". 411 Mania. November 7, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  11. ^ "Csonka's Evolve 52 iPPV Review 11.07.15". 411 Mania. November 7, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  12. ^ "CZW Dojo Wars #17". Cagematch. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  13. ^ "CZW 09/12/15 Down With the Sickness 2015 iPPV Results". Pro Wrestling Ponderings. September 12, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  14. ^ "CZW 11/21/15 Night of Infamy & WSU Cherry T Results". Pro Wrestling Ponderings. November 21, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  15. ^ "CZW 12/12/15 Cage of Death XVII iPPV Results". Pro Wrestling Ponderings. December 12, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  16. ^ "Smash/CZW Smash Vs. CZW". Cagematch. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  17. ^ "CZW 02/13/16 Seventeen iPPV Results". Pro Wrestling Ponderings. February 13, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  18. ^ "CZW 03/26/16 Proving Grounds 2016 Results". Pro Wrestling Ponderings. March 27, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  19. ^ a b "New WWE signing imminent". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  20. ^ "ROH on SBG #224". Cagematch. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  21. ^ "LIO RUSH IS NEXT TPT COMPETITOR!". Ring of Honor. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  22. ^ "ROH 01/09/16 Winter Warriors TV Tapings Results *SPOILERS*". Pro Wrestling Ponderings. January 9, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
  23. ^ a b "3/9 ROH TV Report – Top Prospect Finals, Daniels vs. Dalton Castle, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. March 9, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  24. ^ "ROH signs top prospect Lio Rush before ROH Title shot". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  25. ^ "Evolve news and notes". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  26. ^ "WWE officially confirms Lio Rush signing". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  27. ^ Clapp, John. "WWE signs Lio Rush". WWE. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  28. ^ Currier, Joseph (September 14, 2017). "Lio Rush makes his debut at NXT TV tapings". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  29. ^ "Lio Rush Celebrates CZW Title Win With Adorable Phone Call To His Son (VIDEO)". Pro Wrestling Sheet. May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  30. ^ "5/13 CZW 'Sacrifices' results from Voorhees, NJ: new CZW champions crowned". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  31. ^ "CZW Wired Television Championship history".
  32. ^ "CZW Wired Champion". Archived from the original on 2010-12-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ "MCW Tag Team Championship history".
  34. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2017". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2017.