Report: Hometown Star May Not Appear At AEW WrestleDream

The next few weeks are going to be extremely eventful for AEW, as a number of high-profile events are on the horizon. The most recent "AEW Dynamite" mainly built towards the Grand Slam special on September 25 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, while the fifth anniversary of the show and Title Tuesday episodes will follow consecutively on October 2 and 8 respectively. All of these episodes will help build AEW's next big pay-per-view event, WrestleDream, which takes place in Tacoma, Washington on October 12, an event that one big name might not be on.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, former AEW World Champion, and Tacoma native, Swerve Strickland might not appear at WrestleDream. Strickland was last seen at All Out on September 7, where he lost an Unsanctioned Lights Out Steel Cage match against "Hangman" Adam Page, and is currently off TV selling his injuries as a way to give him some well-deserved time off the road. However, the word from within AEW is that Strickland's time off might lead him to missing the pay-per-view in his hometown, with the term given to Meltzer being that he "might not" appear on October 12.

Meltzer did note that Strickland, as well as MJF, who is off TV for the same reasons, are currently advertised for the Thanksgiving Eve edition of "Dynamite" on November 27 in Chicago, meaning that both men should be back by that point. That show in Chicago will act as the fallout episode from the Full Gear pay-per-view that takes place on November 23, and while not confirmed, will likely feature a round of matches in the Continental Classic tournament that is set to return at the end of this year.