AEW Star Swerve Strickland Makes Accusation That Backstage ‘Politics’ Behind Failed Run In WWE NXT

Former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland claims backstage politics were behind his run in WWE NXT not ending as many had expected.

Well before he became one of the faces of All Elite Wrestling, Swerve Strickland was a rising star in NXT, and went under the name of Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. As the leader of the popular faction Hit Row, he seemed headed to being a future start on the main roster.

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However, after nearly two and a half years with the developmental brand, Strickland was unceremoniously released in 2021. And the other members of Hit Row eventually moved on to the main roster. WWE’s loss ended up becoming AEW’s gain. As he rebranded himself and started from the ground up.

Now Strickland has become one of the top stars for the No. 2 wrestling company in the world. And recently held the promotion’s top title. In a Monday interview on “ The Rich Eisen Show ,” he was asked about what went wrong in NXT after such a strong start, and Strickland had an interested response.

Swerve Strickland blames politics for failed run in WWE NXT

“Political moves. Just political moves, I can say,” he said [h/t Wrestling Observer]. “I’ll just leave it at ‘political moves.’”

After years of Paul “ Triple H ” Levesque leading the brand, his long-time pal Shawn Michaels took control of NXT in September 2021. Two months before Strickland’s surprise release. When asked about the difference between WWE NXT and AEW, the former world champion claimed it was simply about getting more opportunities.

“Just give me the opportunity to show out,’ he said. “Give me the opportunity. Like ‘Hey, can I get a minute of TV time right here in this spot?’ ‘Absolutely’ ‘Okay, I’m going to make something matter.’ That’s something that you just can’t ask for anywhere else. You can’t just ask for a minute and get it. I don’t care if it’s Dynamite, Rampage, Collision, or Ring of Honor , getting television time forwarded to you is valuable.

“… It’s about opportunity. Because there’s a lot of people out there I know that are very, very talented that would dream of getting a minute’s worth of television opportunity.”

Strickland recently signed a new long-term contract with AEW .

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