Top AEW star reveals surprising reason why WWE stint didn't work out

A major AEW star has recently addressed why things did not work out for him during his time with WWE and how his approach to his current company has been from the beginning. This would be Swerve Strickland.

During his time with the Stamford-based promotion, he was the leader of Hit Row and went on to become the NXT North American Champion. He ended up not having a run on the main roster. He then signed with AEW in 2022, and in his two years with the company, he had a run as one-half of the world tag team champions and a world title run.

While appearing on The Rich Eisen Show, Swerve Strickland was asked why things did not work out during his stint with WWE. He mentioned that it was due to political moves but did not discuss it further.

“Political moves. Just political moves, I can say. I’ll just leave it at ‘political moves,'” Swerve mentioned.

He then talked about his run with AEW and how he's taken things step by step and is working towards becoming a bigger star.

“Opportunity and time. I worked my way up from the bottom, I don’t care. You can put me in battle royals, I’ll lose them all, I don’t care. Just give me the opportunity to show out,” he noted. Give me the opportunity like ‘Hey, can I get a minute of TV time right here in this spot?’ ‘Absolutely’ ‘Okay, I’m going to make something matter.’ That’s something that you just can’t ask for anywhere else. You can’t just ask for a minute and get it, that’s really tough. I don’t care if it’s Dynamite, Rampage or Collision or Ring of Honor, getting television time forwarded to you is valuable. It’s up to you what you do with it.”

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Swerve Strickland recently signed a new long-term deal with AEW

During the Zero Hour pre-show, just moments before All In, Swerve Strickland was shown to be signing a new contract with the company.

A few days after this, Fightful Select reported on the contract details. It was mentioned that this multi-year deal would last until 2028. This also ends up reportedly being one of the biggest contracts in AEW history.

Swerve has been on the run of his life in 2024, and despite losing his world title to Bryan Danielson at All In, this may not be the end of his great run. He may focus his sights on Hangman Adam Page in the meantime, as he played a part in him dropping the title.

But should he finish up with his bitter rival, Danielson should be prepared for the former champion to return to the ring for his title.