Swerve Strickland Says AEW Having Challenges Is A Good Thing

AEW has faced plenty of controversies as of late. Multiple fights breaking out due to drama makes the backstage atmosphere very shaky. One AEW star believes the challenges will make the company stronger.

When speaking on the Say Less With Kaz, Lowkey and Rosy podcast, Swerve Strickland explained why challenges for Khan and AEW aren’t necessarily a bad thing. He believes that the challenges will help the company evolve.

“If he is in over his head, if he is, this is speculation on my part, if he is in over his head, good, because he has to be challenged that way. He needs to. He knows he needs to. You don’t do a million-dollar gate on a Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe without challenges. You think that’s easy? No. He should be going after these challenges. He should be dealing with locker room morale and ‘this person wants this, this person wants this’ and ‘there’s friction and things like that.’

He has to go through that. If he doesn’t, how do we grow? We have to go through growing pains. I don’t understand how people think that’s just an AEW thing. Vince McMahon has fought people. We’ve seen these things. That was 20 years in. They almost went bankrupt like how many times? AEW has to face these challenges because they have to grow and evolve. You don’t grow and evolve without building Kevlar,”

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Swerve also discussed talent having options. He thinks about the challenges they face as talent comes in and out while others step up.

We have to take responsibility as performers, in a way as well, because if we put the same reason of why we can’t be successful in one place, I’m not talking about anybody specifically, just general, if we put the same responsibility on the promotion and the ‘brass ring is not allowing me to breakthrough’ and you go over there to a different place, not even AEW, you go to IMPACT, New Japan, wherever you go, and you still can’t break through to the brass ring, start looking at yourselves a little bit. I’m not talking about anybody specifically. I’m talking about any male or female performer. Writer, manager, booker, anybody.

Guy who works the lighting or the guy behind the camera. If you have issues everywhere you go, get out of the damn field. It’s going to be there everywhere you go. There are going to be challenges. I’m sick of the notion of people thinking they can just leave their problems and they can go somewhere else and it’s not going to be there. It’s entertainment, there are going to be problems.

There’s a difference where, if you feel like the effort you’re putting in, and the energy, and all the work that you’re exceeding your payscale or workload or you think you’re doing a lot more and you should be compensated for all that, then you should get into free agency, negotiate, start talking to other places. Maybe it’ll work out better over there, but when you do that, and you get that compensation, you better work and earn that compensation,” he said.

Strickland has a lot of valid points. AEW is still a young company for been around for a few years, but in order for the company to grow, Khan has to step up more as a leader. The buck has to stop with him involving issues with talent.

What do you think of all this? Sound off in the comments!