Swerve Strickland Discusses Factors Leading To Hit Row's Release From WWE

AEW's Swerve Strickland has described in detail what happened in the days and weeks leading up to his and the rest of Hit Row's release from WWE, with him attributing his WWE exit to heat with Vince McMahon and WWE management. 

The AEW star recalled B-Fab having a contract dispute of some sort. Strickland said she didn't receive travel information from WWE to appear on "WWE SmackDown," while the rest of Hit Row did. One member of the group spoke to the WWE office about her being unfairly treated, which Vince McMahon eventually learned about and wasn't pleased to hear.

"We met with Vince. Apparently one of the members of the group was just like, 'They complained at the office 'cause he was calling, asking her for a flight. What's going on?' And they're [WWE office] like, 'Yeah, we can't disclose that information to you.' He's like, 'What?' And he started getting aggressive on the phone, apparently at Titan Towers. So they're saying, like, 'So we're meeting with Vince. We have to talk to Vince about this,' 'cause he was apparently upset with it. He [McMahon] was like, 'First off, that's none of your business. You're a talent, you do this, you worry about what you do, not about anybody else. Even if it's someone in your group, you worry about what you do. That's how we do it here. That's a respect thing,'" said Strickland on "VladTV."

Strickland revealed that B-Fab and several other wrestlers and staff were let go during that time, which is why she didn't get travel information to join them on "SmackDown."

Vince McMahon, in the tongue-lashing that he gave Hit Row, told them that no one asks for a meeting with him on a whim, with McMahon claiming that he had people work with him for 15 years whom he had never spoken to. But, despite the heat that McMahon had with Hit Row, Swerve Strickland stated that McMahon was looking forward to working with them. The group — now featuring just Strickland, Top Dolla, and Ashante "Thee" Adonis – had a segment with Sami Zayn on "WWE SmackDown" in November 2021, and Zayn was the bearer of bad news when he informed them that McMahon disliked the segment.

"Sami Zayn comes back, he's like, 'Apparently Vince didn't like it. Vince hated it.' We're like, 'Wow, we just saw him like five minutes ago.' He's like, 'Yep. Just didn't like it,'" said Strickland.

The former AEW World Champion said that Ashante "Thee" Adonis got appendicitis, which meant that he had to team up with Top Dolla on WWE television. The former NFL star, Strickland said, upset someone in WWE, which brought more heat on the group. Strickland recalled speaking to WWE executive Bruce Prichard, who advised him to "take control," owing to him having the most experience in the group. But all members of the group were released two weeks after that conversation with Prichard. 

B-Fab, Adonis, and Top Dolla all returned to the promotion, but Adonis and Top Dolla were let go later, with B-Fab being the only one who is still a part of the WWE roster.