Swerve Strickland says vibe in AEW locker room is ‘great’

Heading into All In, Swerve Strickland says the vibe in the AEW locker room has been “great.”

It was this time one year ago that CM Punk and Jack Perry had their backstage altercation at All In 2023 that resulted in Punk’s departure from AEW. Last month, there was a confrontation between MJF and Britt Baker backstage. Baker was briefly suspended, but both MJF and Will Ospreay have said the incident was blown out of proportion.

When asked about the AEW locker room, Strickland told Barstool Sports’ Rasslin’ podcast that things have been great. He also believes any issues within the roster have been overblown.

“It’s been great,” Strickland said. “I think everything’s been exploited, definitely been blown out of proportion with a lot of things. They say it’s every other week, but it’s like — go back the last week, what did you hear? Go back the week before, go back the last month, go back to almost like six months now, you’ve heard nothing. So therefore to me, it’s almost calculated to a tee. Right before every pay-per-view, right before every big moment we have, there’s always something that comes out. Because, it’s like, there’s always bickering in the locker room, that’s universal in every workplace.”

Strickland said arguments are bound to happen no matter where you work. But for most people, those arguments don’t end up being reported on the internet. Issues happen and then they go away.

“It happens everywhere. So to me, I’d rather have people care and be upset about something than not give a damn at all,” he said. “Like, these are people that are passionate about their jobs and their work and what they do. And they’re also probably the best at what they do, you know? So those people take a lot of those things to heart. That shows me y’all care. Literally to me, it’s about who’s saying what, to how loud it’s being said, to what forum. Like I said, I feel like AEW is always on the defensive of those things. And that’s what comes with being the alternative. Like, we have to play defense a lot in those scenarios. But that doesn’t stop us from continuing to put on great product and great shows. That doesn’t stop people wanting to still come over and be in All Elite Wrestling. That doesn’t stop any of that. So y’all can have fun with the story, but then like, okay, cool, we back to making this money and doing great business and growing.”

As the AEW World Champion, Strickland is one of the leaders in the locker room. Chris Jericho has called Strickland AEW’s team captain.

“When you look at the NFL, we see the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks fighting each other. And nobody is saying the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to fall apart and their organization is done for and they’re going to lose everything,” Strickland told Rasslin’. “No, it’s ultra-competitive. These are competitive people. It happens. Everywhere.”

Strickland is defending the AEW World title against Bryan Danielson at All In this Sunday (August 25). The match has a stipulation where Danielson will retire from in-ring competition if he loses.