Independent circuit (2014–2017) Rush debuted under the
ring name "LI Green", but after a negative response to the name from promoters, he changed it to "Lennon Duffy". 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. On October 3, he and his teammate Patrick Clark won the MCW Tag Team Championship, defeating The Hell Cats and The Ecktourage. They lost the title thirteen days later to The Ecktourage. He also competed for
Evolve Wrestling where he defeated
Fred Yehi on November 6. He lost his match against Ethan Page the following day. 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 18, 2017, Rush made his debut for
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at "Only Kings Understand Each Other", where he was defeated by
Ricochet. On May 27, 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. He and Clark began to compete together as known as Sudden Impact. On September 12, he changed his name to "Lio Rush" and started a feud with
Joey Janela, where he faced him,
Trevor Lee and
Caleb Konley at Down With the Sickness 2015; the match was won by Janela. At Night of Infamy, on November 21, he wrestled Joey Janela for the
CZW Wired Championship on a losing effort. On December 12, during
Cage of Death XVII, he won the CZW Wired TV Championship, defeating Janela for the title. He made his first successful defense against Kevin Bennett on January 16. He lost his title against Joey Janela on February 13 at CZW Seventeen. 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. 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 (
DEFY Wrestling) 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. Rush defeated Janela at CZW Once in a Lifetime for his last match in CZW and against Janela.
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. Rush went on to compete in the 2016 Top Prospect Tournament, defeating
Jason Kincaid on January 9, going on to defeat Brian Fury on February 6 to win the tournament. On March 31, ROH announced that Rush had signed a contract with the promotion. 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
A. C. H. 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,
T. K. O'Ryan and
Vinny Marseglia). In March 2017, it was reported that Rush had given his notice to ROH.
WWE (2017–2020) NXT and 205 Live (2017–2018) On July 9, 2017, it was reported that Rush had been offered a
NXT contract and that his signing was imminent. Rush made his first televised appearance on the October 4 episode of
NXT, where he was attacked by
Velveteen Dream (his former tag team partner Patrick Clark). On the October 11 episode of
NXT, Rush was defeated by Dream in a match. On October 29, Rush joked on Twitter about
Emma following her release from WWE; he received criticism from WWE wrestlers and issued an apology. The tweet resulted in Rush being pulled from all NXT events until November 30. He would make one additional appearance on NXT television, losing a squash match to
Lars Sullivan. He was then off television again until April 2018. In June 2018, Rush was moved to WWE's main roster as part of the cruiserweight division, appearing on
205 Live. He also established himself as a heel on 205 Live. Upon his debut, he went on a winning streak, defeating
Noam Dar,
Akira Tozawa and three jobbers. He suffered his first loss in a 5-way number one contendership match for the
WWE Cruiserweight Championship, that was won by
Tony Nese. He suffered his first pinfall loss to
Cedric Alexander a few weeks later. event in 2018.
Alliance with Bobby Lashley and hiatus (2018–2019) On the September 17 episode of
Raw, Rush became the hype man and manager of
Bobby Lashley and was responsible for turning Lashley heel when he encouraged him to attack
Kevin Owens multiple times after their match on October 8. Rush then would later help Bobby Lashley capture his first
Intercontinental Championship in a triple threat match against
Seth Rollins and defending champion
Dean Ambrose, when Rush distracted Rollins, allowing Lashley to spear Ambrose and pin him for the title. Following the
Royal Rumble, Rush and Lashley began feuding with
Finn Bálor. His last match on 205 Live would be a number one contendership fatal four way on February 5, 2019, that was won by Akira Tozowa. The next day, Rush and Lashley were defeated by Finn Balor and the debuting
Ricochet. The next week, Rush unsuccessfully challenged Balor for the Intercontinental Championship. However, on the March 11 episode of Raw, Rush helped Lashley to regain the Intercontinental Championship from Balor. The following week,
Braun Strowman and Balor defeated Lashley and Rush in a tag team match. Near the end of the match, Lashley fled the ring, leaving Rush to be pinned by Strowman. Following that, he did not wrestle for the company and stopped appearing alongside Lashley after
WrestleMania 35 in April. Following the April 15
Raw, Rush started an imposed sabbatical away from WWE. The problem has been chalked up to be a possible misunderstanding, due to Rush not adhering by the unwritten rules of the professional wrestling industry.
NXT Cruiserweight Champion (2019–2020) Rush made his return to
NXT on the September 18 episode as a face and defeated
Oney Lorcan to become the No. 1 Contender for
Drew Gulak's
Cruiserweight Championship. Rush successfully captured the title (which was now renamed to NXT Cruiserweight Championship) on October 9 episode of
NXT. On November 8 episode of
205 Live, Rush went toe to toe with Raul Mendoza in a non-title match that received high praise for its athletic competition and hard-hitting combat. At
Survivor Series, Rush successfully defended his NXT Cruiserweight Championship in an Interbrand
Triple Threat match that featured
Akira Tozawa and
Kalisto. This is also the first match to give Team NXT their first point of the night against Team Raw and Team SmackDown. On November 27 episode of NXT, Rush retained his NXT Cruiserweight Championship in a gruesome fast-paced battle against
Akira Tozawa. On the December 11 episode of NXT, Rush lost his title to
Angel Garza, ending his reign at 63 days. On the January 15 episode of NXT, Rush defeated
Tyler Breeze and
Isaiah "Swerve" Scott in a triple treat match to compete in a No. 1 Contenders Match for the Cruiserweight Championship against then winner of his No. 1 Contenders Match
Angel Garza. He later on defeated Garza on the February 12 episode of NXT and went on to face
Jordan Devlin for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship on February 19 episode of NXT, in which he failed to capture the Cruiserweight title. On April 15, 2020, Rush was released from his WWE contract as part of budget cuts stemming from the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Return to the independent circuit (2020–present) After leaving WWE, Rush began to work with many independent promotions, most notably
Game Changer Wrestling, where he had several matches. In November, he signed a contract with the Major League Wrestling promotion. Also in November, he was announced for
New Japan Pro-Wrestling's
Super J-Cup tournament, which took place on USA. After failing to win the Super J-Cup, he was defeated by
El Phantasmo at New Japan's The New Beginning USA. Rush first match with MLW took place at
Kings of Colosseum on January 6, 2021, where he defeated
Myron Reed to win the
World Middleweight Championship. One month later, due to MLW relationship with
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Rush defeated
Laredo Kid to win the
AAA World Cruiserweight Championship and became a double champion. However this reign was not recognized in Mexico by AAA, with AAA booker
Konnan stating that Lio lost the title to Laredo during an untelevised event.
All Elite Wrestling (2021–2022) On May 30, 2021, Rush made an appearance for
All Elite Wrestling at the
Double or Nothing pay-per-view during the
Casino Battle Royale match as the "Joker", where he was eliminated by
Matt Hardy with help from
Private Party. On June 9, Rush announced he had suffered a shoulder injury during the Casino Battle Royale match and that while AEW had offered him a contract, he was choosing to retire from professional wrestling once his injury healed and he had fulfilled his contractual obligations with NJPW. On September 29, Rush— who had decided not to go through with his original plans to retire— officially signed with AEW. He made his
AEW Dynamite debut on November 10, 2021 (along with his new tag team partner,
Dante Martin) in a winning effort against the team of
Matt Sydal and Lee Moriarty. On January 22, 2022, Rush revealed that his AEW contract was set to expire February 14, 2022, and became a free agent on that date.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2021–2024) Lio Rush made his
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) debut at the
Super J-Cup. After that, he went on to suffer a few losses from
El Phantasmo. After a victory over
Rocky Romero, Rush qualified for the New Japan Cup USA 2021 before making headlines once he and
Yoh went on to win the
Super Junior Tag League the following year and will face the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions,
TJP and
Francesco Akira at
Wrestle Kingdom 17. At Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4, 2023 Rush and Yoh were unsuccessful at winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions from
Catch 2/2. On March 21, Rush unsuccessfully challenged
Hiromu Takahashi for the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On April 27, Rush was announced as an entrant in the
Best of the Super Juniors 30 tournament, competing in the A block. Rush finished the tournament with 12 points, narrowly missing out on advancing to the semi-finals, although avenging a loss against Takahashi. In a December 2023 interview with
WrestlePurists, Rush revealed that a deal with NJPW had fallen through and he was still a free agent.
Impact Wrestling (2023) On March 30, 2023, Rush made his
Impact Wrestling debut against
Kushida in a one-on-one match at Impact Wrestling
Multiverse United of year 2023 in a very impressive matchup but was not successful as he lost via submission. On June 23, Rush returned to Impact Wrestling to team
Nick Aldis to defeat
The Motor City Machine Guns,
Alex Shelley and
Chris Sabin for the Summer Sizzler event. Afterwards on the June 29, 2023 episode of
Impact! Lio and Aldis dominated and attacked The Motor City Machine Guns during a segment (This segment was filmed, taped and aired before the tag team match), thus establishing himself as a heel in the process. On June 30, it was announced that Rush will challenge Sabin for the
Impact X Division Championship at
Slammiversary. During this match Rush was victorious and became the Impact X Division Champion for the first time in his career. At
Victory Road, Rush defeated
Kushida to retain the title. At
Impact 1000, Rush lost the title to
Chris Sabin, thus marking his final appearance for the company.
Return to AEW / ROH (2024–present) On the May 29, 2024 episode of
Dynamite, Rush returned to AEW for the first time since 2021, as a participant in the Casino Gauntlet Match to earn an
AEW World Championship match at
Forbidden Door, which was won by
Will Ospreay. On the June 1 episode of
AEW Collision, Rush was defeated by
Roderick Strong. On the June 15 episode of
Collision, Rush approached Dante Martin as a call back to their previous alliance, but would be pushed away by Martin's brother
Darius Martin (who form the tag team of Top Flight together) and
Action Andretti. Later in the show, Rush appeared to save Top Flight and Andretti from a post-match attack from
Shane Taylor Promotions (
Shane Taylor,
Lee Moriarty and
Anthony Ogogo). On June 21, it was reported that Rush would be an AEW regular going forward. On the same day episode of
AEW Rampage, Rush defeated Andretti to qualify for the vacant
AEW TNT Championship ladder match at Forbidden Door, but failed to win the title at the event. Going forward, Rush remained aligned with Top Flight and Andretti. On the July 20, 2024 tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling Lio Rush returned to ROH, now the sister promotion of AEW, after 7 years and teamed with
ROH World Television Champion Atlantis Jr., in a losing effort against
Shane Taylor and
Johnny TV . On July 26, 2024 at
Death Before Dishonor Lio faced Shane Taylor, Johnny TV,
Lee Johnson,
Brian Cage and Atlantis Jr. in a Six-Man
Survival of the Fittest Elimination Match for the
ROH World Television Championship but was unsuccessful as he was eliminated by Lee Johnson. On October 12, Rush officially announced that he was now signed to AEW. On the December 4 episode of
Dynamite, Rush and Andretti eliminated Top Flight during the
Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale, teasing a split in the alliance. On December 14 at the
Winter is Coming special of
Collision, Rush and Andretti defeated Top Flight, earning a future
AEW World Tag Team Championship opportunity. On the January 4, 2025 episode of
Collision, Rush and Andretti failed to capture the titles from
Private Party (Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen). On January 18 at the
Maximum Carnage special episode of
Collision, Rush and Andretti attacked Top Flight, cementing their heel turn. On the February 22 episode of
Collision, Rush and Andretti revealed their team name to be "CRU" as an acronym for "crazy, ruthless, and unhinged". On April 6 at
Dynasty Zero Hour, CRU teamed with
Nick Wayne to defeat
AR Fox and Top Flight. On the January 8, 2026 episode of
ROH on HonorClub, Rush and Andretti added
Lacey Lane to CRU. In March 2026, Rush adopted his "Blackheart" persona, a demonic character that he previously used on the independent scene.
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2025) On June 17, 2025, CRU made their
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) debut at Martes de Arena Mexico event where they unsuccessfully challenged
Los Nuevos Ingobernables (
Ángel de Oro and
Niebla Roja) for the
CMLL World Tag Team Championship. == Music career ==