AEW’s Swerve Strickland comments on brutal spot during recent match

Swerve Strickland faced off against one of his old rivals on this week's episode of AEW Dynamite. The former World Champion has now opened up on a particularly brutal spot from the match in question.

Strickland kept his promise of embarrassing Ricochet when he encouraged fans to pelt The One and Only with toilet paper at Worlds End 2024 after the latter failed to advance to the finals of last year's Continental Classic. The high-flyer responded in brutal fashion on Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen 2025, attacking and bloodying Swerve with a pair of scissors.

After failing to get his hands on Ricochet for several weeks, Strickland finally went toe-to-toe with The Future of Flight for the first time since 2017 on the February 5 episode of AEW Dynamite. The latter defeated The New Flavor after accidentally countering the Swerve Stomp with a low-blow, finally finishing the match with a Spirit Gun.

The aforementioned bout featured a number of memorable spots, including a particular one that saw Strickland slam Ricochet back-first onto the ringside barricade. When a fan on X/Twitter wondered what the point behind such a painful maneuver might have been, the former AEW World Champion simply stated that he was motivated to inflict pain on his opponent.

"Cuz i want to hurt him," explained Strickland.

Check out Swerve's tweet below:

Strickland's response was likely in character, as befits his persona of being one of the most dangerous athletes in All Elite Wrestling.

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Ricochet rejected a violent match type in AEW

The controversial manner of Ricochet's victory over Swerve Strickland, along with his post-match assault on Prince Nana and the theft of Swerve's Embassy robe, suggests that the feud between the two men is likely far from over.

With Grand Slam Australia approaching, a fan on X/Twitter recently asked AEW Creative Head Tony Khan to consider having Strickland and The Human Highlight Reel settle things at the upcoming event in a Death Match.

Ricochet soon made it clear, however, that he was not interested in such a bout, writing:

"No, I refuse," Ricochet replied.

The Highlight of the Night may have been wise in rejecting the aforementioned match stipulation against Strickland, given the latter's experience and proficiency in no disqualification/hardcore bouts.