AEW Star Swerve Strickland Discusses Being 'Bulls***ted' Around WWE PC
AEW star Swerve Strickland has recalled a moment that left him exasperated during his time in WWE, after putting on a great match for the main roster audience.
Strickland recently spoke on "Vlad TV" about a match he had with Drew Gulak on 205 Live, which was filmed after an episode of "WWE SmackDown." He remembered the match getting praise from the crowd and those at the back, but wasn't widely appreciated by those in WWE's Performance Center.
"The one day I knew I was getting, like, bulls***ted around the PC was when ... I was there for like three or four months, and I got called to do 205 Live against Drew Gulak, who had the Cruiserweight Championship," he recalled. "We were the last one, so we had to go last that night in Miami. After you'd seen all the stars, it was me and Drew. Like, we went 18 minutes in the ring, straight, for the Cruiserweight Championship. Everybody's on their feet going crazy. I have Swerve's House signs, like, going after Roman [Reigns], I have Swerve's House signs. They're not chanting, 'This is awesome,' they're chanting 'Let's go Swerve.' They were actually rooting for me to win this title. I end up losing to Drew Gulak. Got great praise in the back afterward, [from] Charlotte, Bayley, Kofi, like, all giving me crazy [praise] ... like, Samoa Joe, everybody's giving me crazy praise."
After the match — which happened a few months after Strickland joined WWE – he was asked to do something in the PC, which confused and angered him.
Strickland on what he was asked to do in the PC
While fans loved the match they put on, those at WWE's Performance Center felt Swerve Strickland needed to improve, which is a sentiment that he did not agree with.
"I come back to the PC, and they're trying to teach you arm drags again. I'm like, 'Get the f**k out of here with that.' They're trying to tell me how to entertain 400 people in 'NXT,' when I just entertained 6,000 in a stadium. I'm like, 'Why are you trying to backtrack me, 'cause I already showcased what I can do in front of 6,000' ... that's the end game to all this, right? The end game is to get me there, of what this product is," he questioned.
Strickland believes his assertive nature rubbed people the wrong way, especially Triple H. The AEW star revealed he got along well with Shawn Michaels and felt his invaluable experience would take him to the next level, but he could not get an audience with him.
"That was the mindset I had, and it was, like, kind of too brash. It was too overthinking. That's where I kind of clashed with Triple H. We didn't gel. I really gelled with Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels was the one," he said. "Shawn is the only one out of all those coaches that could really teach you how to be a top main event star. That's the only one there. So I'm like, that's who I need to get with. Why can't I get with him?"
Strickland was called up to the main roster in 2021, but his spell ended quickly as he was let go a few weeks later.