A WWE return didn’t appeal to Swerve Strickland in 2022.
On November 18, 2021, Swerve Strickland was released by WWE, alongside his then-Hit Row stablemates Ashante Adonis and Top Dolla. Earlier that month, Hit Row’s B-Fab had also been released, and thus, the entire group was gone from WWE shortly after being called up to SmackDown. Swerve would go on to sign with AEW when his 90-day non-compete clause was up, while the other three made their return to WWE in August 2022 after a spell on the indies.
Swerve recently appeared on the Smooth Vega podcast, where he commented on Hit Row struggling in WWE without him, as well as stating his reason for not picking up the call to reunite with his former stablemates.
“That comes from experience. I had a different experience than those guys had. I’ve known how to build myself from the ground up on the independents. I knew how to hustle, get here, get to there, put on performances and matches, and then go, ‘How do I get that?’ Then monetize that into this and make this into something. Everything, throughout my career, and to this day, I apply; one thing leads to another and to another. That’s kind of how you see those little things in my entrance and my music, my wrestling, my look, the sound, all that was weaving together from going from here to here to hustling. That’s something those guys still need to learn. It’s tough in that organization, WWE, it’s really tough creatively when you don’t have your hands on your creative, and it’s left to the powers that be to maneuver you how they see fit, and that’s not easy for anybody. For me, I was in a place where I knew I needed to be. I needed to be in AEW. When I got the phone call to go back, I didn’t even answer it. It was, ‘Nope,'”
-Swerve Strickland
Swerve’s stock has risen astronomically over the past year, and that looks likely to continur as he’s set to face Hangman Page in a number one contender’s match for the AEW World Title on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on when WWE reached out to Swerve Strickland as soon as we hear more.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
