Why AEW Kept Rush's Return A Surprise

After being away from the promotion since December's Worlds End pay-per-view, Rush made his return on the April 27 edition of Collision, picking up a quick squash win over Martin Stone (FKA WWE's Danny Burch).

RUSH's return wasn't advertised ahead of time and Tony Khan revealed to YoJoshMartinez that he didn't want to advertise the former ROH World Champion's return ahead of time, simply so he could surprise the fans inside Daily's Place in Jacksonville. 

"Rush I wanted to bring back as a surprise for the fans in Jacksonville. We had done some cool things on Wednesday, some fun surprises in terms of that Casino Gauntlet match, and some really cool unexpected match-ups that nobody saw coming," Khan said.

Rush had been gone from AEW due to a combination of reasons. He sustained a torn hamstring during the Continental Classic, working through the injury in order to finish out the tournament. He was cleared to return in mid-February, only to be hampered by visa issues. 

Rush has been wrestling in AEW since the Summer of 2022. He inked a new contract with the promotion last year. 

H/T Wrestling Inc.