AEW superstar and current tag champion Shane “Swerve” Strickland recently appeared on the Grapsody podcast to discuss Hit Row’s return to WWE, and how happy he is to see his former group getting their well-deserved spotlight after their first-opportunity on the main roster ended due to each member being released. Swerve adds that he is quite happy with what he has going on in AEW. Highlights can be found below.
Comments on Hit Row returning to WWE:
“I’m happy for those guys and I’m happy they got their second chance, I really am. Some people were like, ‘Are you upset about this? They’re back.’ Good, they deserve to be on TV,” he stated. “Now, this is their chance to be them and do what they do or however they want to do. There were times when I would discuss things and they wanted to do it this way, and I was like, ‘Okay, let’s try to mesh this together.’ It was a lot of teamwork and effort and family-type vibes to put these promos together. I don’t think I brought them up to the main roster, I think we did it together. A lot of people with these comments are trying to separate us and do the dividing thing. No, you’re not going to divide me from my friends. You’re not going to divide me from people that I was really grinding with at the PC [Performance Center] and every week on TV, trying to do something really special and being, literally, probably one of the most creative people in the entire PC because nobody was telling us what to do. We were literally coming up with it ourselves. We did that together to get to the main roster.”
Says he is happy with what he is doing in AEW:
“Now, I’m on a different wavelength with what I’m trying to do and what I’m trying to accomplish. I’m not saying I move at a higher, lower, faster speed than those guys, they’re moving at a great speed, but I’m moving at a speed that is good for me. I’m doing something that is really special and they are doing something that is special over there too. I can’t do what I’m about to do in that environment. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I would. There are a lot of things where, WWE is a publicly-traded company. There is a lot of red tape and chain of command you have to go through and get all these things approved before something comes back to you, months later, ‘Yeah, we can do it’ or ‘Nah, that’s a no,’ when I have direct contact with Tony Khan over here, I have numbers, I have schematics, statistics, all these things that back up what I’m trying to do. He goes, ‘Yup, I love it, you’re good, go.’ Why wouldn’t I want that? Why wouldn’t I want to take advantage of that here? They have a great relationship with Triple H, they really do, and that was Triple H’s choice to bring them back. I’m happy for them and they have a chance to really blow up and do some special things because of the relationship that we had all grown with Triple H at NXT. Now, on SmackDown, the possibilities are endless there. What I have right now with the close relationships and freedom that I have to do it, I’m happy where I’m at and I wouldn’t change that for anybody or any opportunity in the world.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)