Though Swerve Strickland is currently on top of the world as one of the hottest young stars in AEW, with a perfect record in the Continental Classic and a legitimate push from fans of the promotion to get some gold around his waist stat, there was a time when the “Realist” was really struggling to find his niche in NXT after a fantastic run on the indies.
Sure, Strickland was eventually added to Hit Row, giving the group a legitimate in-ring star to go with their more entertainment-themed gimmick, but for a time, he felt as though the infrastructure of the promotion, which was far from wrestler-friendly, made it hard for him to get where he wanted to be, as he explained to Chris Van Vliet on Insight.
“So that was a process of, like, frustration. It came from frustration, like a lot of those like moments. Matt Bloom brought me into the office with Canyon at the time, and I was getting a promotion. I was like going up in pay and stuff. But like early on that week. Here's the frustrating parts of this. When WWE and NXT is like promoting this and doing this and this and that and that and like you're tweeting supporting everything like oh, this is coming to the Peacock. Yeah, we're doing this, retweet it. Hey, this is the new show coming out yada yada and we have this promoted tweet yada yada mass tweets, and stuff like that. But then, like when you like they'll say nothing, whatever. Like, okay, you're doing your job, but when you say something like unappreciated tweet, no context, just you just tweet unappreciated. They call you, ‘Hey man, we see you tweet underappreciated, what was that all about?' But you miss all the other stuff that I did? You didn't see anything about me like that two-minute promo video I put out nobody like mentioned, but you'll see that though,” Swerve Strickland told Chris Van Vliet via PWMania.
“So that was one of the things I brought up in the meeting. I was like, exactly what I say I feel unappreciated. I feel like I can do more. And I think y'all know that I can do more, like Canyon was right there. The guy who can like, hire me, fire me at any point? And I was like, ‘Oh, yeah,' I have a year left here on my contract. And, like, I would love to make something make an impact on that time, you know, because I have options I can do. I can go anywhere. And I was like me, laying that out to him. I was like, oh, I want to be in Shawn Michaels' class. He was like, well, he's not really having a class right now. He's doing this. He's gonna write TV. So he's not really hands-on with them. Like, can I like watch tape with him? He's like, his office is right over there. Like, okay, and then one over the, ‘Hi, Shawn, can I have a good time with you? Yeah, absolutely. Here's my email. Send me three matches, we'll watch them.' I was like, and then that's the crazy thing about a system like that. It's like, oh, I could have just gone to his office. Because I happen to do these mind games of, like, let me change my hair. Let me do this. Let me say some wild stuff for, like, let me do this, I'm gonna get their attention. Or you could just go knock on this door. who's like, right there? We walk past it every day. And stuff like that.”
Could WWE have made things easier for Strickland? Yes. Does the structure he described feel unnecessarily complicated? Yes as well, especially when you learn about the challenges he went through just to get into the inner circle, real or imaginary, of the promotion's then-booker Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who was known for having his “guys” in developmental.
Swerve Strickland reveals the challenges of getting in with Triple H.
Continuing his conversation with Chris Van Vliet, Swerve Strickland described the challenges he faced in working under Paul “Triple H” Levesque, whom he wanted nothing more than to impress as a member of NXT.
Despite making changes to his look and working his tail off at PLE's, the performer still struggled to get on Levesque's good side, even if fans may not have known it based on how he was used.
“And that's like this wild. Like, it can all be so simple, especially if you're already performing well. I understand. Like, you got to pick your spots too. And like, you got to earn the equity in order to be able to do that. By that time I was already doing the NXT TakeOvers, and like the Worlds Collide, I was already being on everything and weekly TV. But I always told Triple H at the time, first two months there was like, ‘Hey, thank you. I appreciate everything that you've given me. I'm happy to be here. What can I do to be one of your guys?' Then three months later, ‘I appreciate everything. Thank you. This has been awesome to experience appreciate you having me here. What would I have to do to be one of those guys?' Three months after that like a year now? I'm like, ‘What's stopping you from making me one of your guys?' Now it's like, I'm putting the pressure on him. Because like now the equity has grown. Now. He knows I'm serious. I know what I have to offer, and stuff like that. And that may be like, I don't know that maybe like, it could be taken as a disrespectful, like, you don't know what you're talking about. You're not seeing me here. But that's those risks I gotta take, you know, like, giving me the chance to fail.”
Was Strickland ever “the guy” during his run in NXT? No, while he was a featured part of the promotion's storytelling both as a singles star and working with Hit Row, there were always performers ahead of him in the pecking order, many of whom are still doing work in the WWE Universe to this day. Still, it's worth wondering if Strickland would be as successful in AEW as he is today without that massive chip on his shoulder, as it's clear those struggles have helped to turn him into the ultra-villain willing to break into another wrestler's houses to menace his baby that he is today.
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