AEW star Swerve Strickland reveals priorities after backstage tension

Swerve Strickland suffered a huge loss on AEW Dynamite last week against one of his old rivals. The New Flavor has made it clear that he is not through with the latter, who is none other than Ricochet - although this has seemingly caused some tension between the former World Champion and his manager.

After weeks of hostility and pursuit, Strickland and Ricochet finally went one-on-one for the first time in over seven years on the February 5 episode of Dynamite. The Future of Flight walked away with the victory (courtesy of a fortunately disguised low blow) and the Embassy robe that Swerve had made his entrance for the match in.

On this week's edition of the Wednesday night show, Renee Paquette interviewed Strickland and his manager, Prince Nana. The latter called out Ricochet for crossing a line with his actions and for disrespecting his legacy - Nana, of course, founded The Embassy during his early run in ROH in the 2000s, which he merged with Strickland's faction Mogul Affiliates after his AEW debut.

However, the 45-year-old also took exception to Swerve's seeming fixation on exacting vengeance against The One and Only. He urged Strickland to focus on better goals, such as regaining the AEW World Title, but the Washington native reminded Nana of the consequences of letting his enemies walk away by bringing up his past with Hangman Adam Page.

Prince Nana left Swerve behind at the end of the interview, speculating potential tension between them. On his media account on X/Twitter, Strickland recently posted a picture of his manager from his past tenure in ROH. The image also features the late Jimmy Rave in the same Embassy robe that Ricochet stole, or at least one designed similarly.

"Only Thing That Matters," wrote Swerve.

Swerve ambushed The Human Highlight Reel at a recent DEFY show on February 7, although the latter managed to escape.

Ricochet's message to his haters after beating former AEW Champion Swerve Strickland

Ricochet's victory against Swerve Strickland last Wednesday was a statement-making win. This week, the Highlight of the Night was featured in a video package on AEW Dynamite, in which he taunted his detractors and boasted about his triumph against The Realest.

He also teased his eagerness to move ahead in his All Elite career, stating:

"I was the winner and then you look at Swerve Strickland. He had all the threats, he had all the insults, he had all the menacing looks and vigor but again... None of that matters when you can't win and Ricochet won and Ricochet is moving on to bigger and better things. So, I feel sorry for the people who thought it was going to be different. This is a cruel, cold world but luckily for me... Your boy stands really, really warm."

It remains to be seen when Swerve and Ricochet may go toe-to-toe next in All Elite Wrestling.