Swerve Strickland discusses the AEW locker room.
The AEW locker room has been the source of some controversy over the years, as rumors and reports about backstage incidents often lead to plenty of discourse. Most recently, a backstage incident between MJF and Britt Baker sparked plenty of controversy, though Will Ospreay and others have said that it was blown out of proportion.
Speaking on Barstool Rasslin', AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland was asked to comment on the state of the AEW locker room, as Brandon Walker noted that there were seemingly rumors about something happening every other week.
“It’s been great. I think that 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 six months now, you’ve heard nothing. So therefore to me, it’s almost calculated to a t, before every pay-per-view, right before every big moment we have, there’s always something that comes out because there’s always bickering in a locker room, that’s universal in any workplace. I’m pretty sure you have it with people behind the camera. But I’m pretty sure people said some things that they’re not particularly proud of, or you’re not happy about. It happens. But it’s not made for the internet. It happens, and then it goes 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. 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. 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. 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 us from 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 okay, cool, we back to business, making money and doing great business and growing," Strickland said.
Walker noted that he had interviewed other members of the AEW roster, and it seemed like the focus remained on pushing in the same direction and growing the business. Strickland stated that was his focus. He also drew a comparison with the way that players in the NFL fought, but it was a sign of competition.
“It is, it is for me. What do I do in those situations? We rally, we get back on the train, we get the show started. We put on a great product. I don’t let it faze me and I try not to let it faze other people. You kind of give them that motivational speech to keep them on…. We look at the NFL, and we see the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks fighting each other, and nobody’s saying the Pittsburgh Steelers are gonna fall apart, and the organization’s done for and they’re gonna lose everything. No, it’s ultra-competitive. These are competitive people. It happens everywhere," Strickland said.
MJF recently said that the AEW locker room had never been tighter. Check out his comments here.
Click here to see what Strickland said about facing Bryan Danielson at AEW All In.
Fightful will have coverage of AEW All In as it airs on August 25th.
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