AEW's Swerve Strickland Pairs Bloody Dynamite Image With Cryptic Shakespearean Quote
It should go without saying, but much like how one should never rub another man's rhubarb, one should also never humiliate another individual with toilet paper and expect no consequences. Unfortunately, Swerve Strickland forgot that last part. Only days after Strickland and AEW fans humiliated Ricochet by throwing toilet paper at him at AEW World's End, Ricochet got his revenge, violently, by stabbing Strickland in the head with a screwdriver last night on "AEW Dynamite" during a three-way match involving Strickland, Roderick Strong, and Jay White.
A day later, Strickland has commented on the matter, and did so in cryptic fashion. Taking to X, the former AEW World Champion posted a photo of Ricochet standing over him, along with the phrase "such sweet sorrow." Fans of William Shakespeare will note that "such sweet sorrow" is part of the phrase "parting is such sweet sorrow" from Shakespeare's romantic tragedy "Romeo & Juliet," a play that still may not be as violent as what Ricochet did to Strickland last night.
"Such sweet sorrow" pic.twitter.com/2LWsvsOEsM
— The Realest Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident) January 2, 2025
While it's not entirely clear why Strickland chose that exact Shakespeare quote for this situation, it could be related to his long-standing history with Ricochet. Long before the golden scissors and toilet paper came into play, Strickland and Ricochet developed a friendship while on the independent circuit, and Strickland has credited Ricochet for getting him noticed by Lucha Underground, where they worked as Prince Puma (Ricochet) and Killshot (Strickland) respectively.
Despite working in Lucha Underground at the same time, and briefly overlapping in WWE when Strickland worked there as Isiah "Swerve" Scott, Ricochet and Strickland have never faced each other in a one on one match in a major promotion. Given the actions of both men over the past few weeks, however, it would seem that is likely to change shortly.