But would you call him young and stupid to his face?
Thatâs not really the point. Lio has a right to say how he feels, and I guess the boys have a right to shun him if they want. Lio has to be careful though, bite the hand that feeds and heâll get a year added to his contract and he wonât be used. Or maybe theyâll put him in a dress, or have him carry around a plunger/plumber gimmick.
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he wonât do the dress
Has anyone ever been part of a locker room atmosphere? Jesus ChristâŚitâs pretty common everyhwere.
I wouldâŚIâd call him a mark too.
Iâd say hes is pissing his career away by saying stupid shit and expecting the world to be handed to himâŚshut up and get to workâŚthis is part of the job, donât like itâŚgo work at Wendyâs.
Yeah i would especially if i explain why i called him that like i did in my post.
Honestly this âincidentâ (I think itâs being overblown by those inside of the company as well as the fans) reflects worse on the company to me than Rush.
Could Rush be more âgraciousâ to the vets in the locker room? Sure. Could he tell his wife to stay at home? Of course (although Iâd venture that keeping your wife happy > upholding antiquated locker room rituals). Should he have kept his mouth shut and suffered what he considered indignities in silence? PerhapsâŚBut I also place more blame at the feet of the company that has a bit of an identity crisis. Are they a modern entertainment company that has a responsibility to lead the industry with how they compensate/treat their talentâŚOr are they old man McMahonâs kooky carny sideshow? *Spoiler AlertâŚThe answerâs both.
Were I in Lioâs shoes would I be more respectful of the vets & the locker room traditions (out-dated as they may be)? ProbablyâŚBut I would draw the line at being disrespected or EXPECTED to do something I felt crossed the line, especially when weâre ALL supposed to be professionals who can carry our own gear. Iâve been in broadcasting for 20+ years & every set I walk on, I treat those âunderâ me with respect. If I need a drink or a snack or a spare roster, Iâll ask a member of the crew, but I never demand anything from them or expect another grown person (or even a young/dumb millennial) to wait on me hand & foot. One of the things that pisses me of to the Nth degree is being on a broadcast w/someone who expects the crew to be his/her personal servants. Thatâs not how you treat people. Give respect to get respect. Also, another thing that might be interesting is looking at how the talent is treated in NXT vs. on the main roster. Is there a shift in the locker room culture/etiquette?
As far as Rush goes, heâll be ok. The kidâs got talent (that quite frankly has been squandered on Raw). Even if he gets released, he might do well on the indies in a world where AEW now exists. Honestly, other than $$$/worldwide exposure; I see very little upside in performing for the WWE (on the main roster). And if youâre good enough in the ring/smart enough w/your money, you can probably piece together that 50-60K a year that it seems like they were paying Rush.
I think weâre all overreacting, but Itâs a fascinating story! 
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New NFL drafts carry the jock strap of older players? Must be an American thingâŚ
Is this one of those macho locker rooms where men talk about grabbing women by the p****? Antiquated meathead behavior needs to go away.
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LMFAO and that just shows how little you know of locker room culture.
Sit this one out perhaps.
Deezy, please inform us all of how many professional wrestling locker rooms youâve been in?
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Tell me how many actual locker rooms youâve been inâŚclearly alot of you have no experience in that either
Iâve been in plenty of locker rooms.
But Iâm not sure I want to use that to inform any conclusions about pro sports/WWE locker environments. Those have to be different from my HS lacrosse teamâŚat least I hope.
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So, as I said before, do new NFL drafts carry the jockstraps of the other playersâŚ? Genuinely interested as I think itâd be pretty moronic to create tiers within any locker room where the bottom tier are servants and then say itâs about brotherhood. It doesnât make any sense and I canât imagine any respectable organisation would think itâs a good idea but you seem to be saying thatâs how it is. (can see it being a thing in the XFL though)
There will be an angle in the XFL about initiation with jock straps being placed on playerâs heads. It will build the returning feud between Jesse Ventura and Rusty Tillman.
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Iâve promoted and booked a relatively successful and weâll respected independent promotion for the last 12 years.
Iâve worked with hundreds of talents, some who have ended up in WWE, NXT, Impact, AEW, and other major promotions - as well as older talents who have spent time in various major promotions. Iâve never dealt with the moronic and out of touch locker room environment that you like to imagine still exists. And those that like to imagine theyâre âold schoolâ or playing the role of â1980âs vet rasslerâ, generally are considered dicks and not welcome in the vast majority of backstages or are booked by any meaningful promotions.
But clearly, you know better than myself or anybody on this board.
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As a young man I was lucky enough to listen to a fairly well respected DP talk about how he made it in the entertainment industry, and the sacrifices it required. The mentality it takes to succeed as a new person in a cut-throat business with a thousand people willing to take your job if you make a single misstep applies to the pro wrestling business as well, Iâd imagine. As you are coming up you donât see your family for months at a time, you probably wonât get to be there to see your kids take their first steps or hear them speak their first words (this was before everyone had a smartphone with a camera/facetime), you miss out on birthdays and anniversaries and friends weddings and loved oneâs funerals. If you donât want to do that, or if youâre not willing to do that, then you need to find a different way to make your living or you will be in for a rough ride. Those are hard truths to hear and even harder to live by, but there are people who do just that and make a lot less money in a much less glamorous position than Lio Rush finds himself in.
I agree with Brother Nate when he says that you do not want arrogant people in positions where they can throw their weight around to those who are âunderâ them in the pecking order. Iâm pretty sure the entire âpaying your duesâ that goes on in pro wrestling is done to weed out those very people who would act like pricks once theyâve âmade itâ. I imagine there is a shift in culture between NXT and WWE because in my industry a low budget movie being made for a couple million will have a very different work culture than something with tens/hundreds of millions of dollars behind it and a significantly higher expected viewership/exposure/profit. Generally speaking, when there is more on the line people will act like it.
But as you hinted at, WWE being a terrible company that undervalues their talent and Lio Rush being deserving of scorn are not necessarily mutually exclusive to one another. They could both be happening simultaneously, but the WWE is in the position of power here. If Lio wants to be a part of it he will be a part of it under their terms and conditions or he will not be a part of it. It doesnât matter who is more right, or who is less wrong. How many fewer tickets will WWE sell next year if, instead of renewing his contract, they decide to tell Lio to go fly a kite in a thunderstorm? If he can make more money somewhere else in an environment that suits his personality better he should do that. If not heâs going to have to play in their sandbox by their rules.
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I have never heard of NFL players caring someone elseâs jock around, but it has been reported that the rookies are expected to go grab the water on breaks and carry a veteran players shoulder pads during training camp. I have also heard that the rookie is suppose to take the others at his position out to dinner and pick up the bill.
But things used to happen in the 80s and 90s, Deezy knows all.
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Tell me moreâŚyour clout chasing doesnât negate anything youâre trying to promote. LOL.