Swerve Strickland was only in WWE for just over two years, signing in April 2019 before being released in November 2021.
During his stint with the company, he won the NXT North American Title and helped form Hit Row with Top Dolla, B-Fab, and Ashante 'Thee' Adonis.
Though he was regularly featured on NXT TV, Swerve never felt he was one of Triple H's guys.
“I would say he had a respect for me, and he knew what I was capable of, but I always felt like he positioned me in a way that wouldn’t overtake other talent, in a sense," Swerve told Vlad TV.
"It was like, you can’t have…I was drafted third round, fourth round to a team, or something like that. If you put me on the field, I’m going to outshine the first-rounder you drafted, that you paid $20 million for, and I’m getting paid like $900,000 to be on that team. But if you play me, what do you with the first-rounder? So he positioned me in ways like that, where it was like, ‘Oh, shoot, that was a great performance.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, give me more.’ He’s like, ‘Not yet.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, why’s that? Why aren’t you giving me more?’ I would have conversations with him, straight to his face. I would tell him this straight to his face now. But we still have a good relationship, even still to this day. But I would be like, ‘I want to be one of your guys. What do I have to do to be one of your guys?’ Three months later, have the same conversation again. ‘I want to be one of your guys. Thank you for the opportunity, but I want to be one of your go-to guys.’ Then, after a while, it’s like a year goes by, and I’m like, what’s stopping me from being one of your guys? That’s where he was like, I backed him into a corner. He’s like, oh shit, he’s figuring out my shit," he recalled.
"Triple H is great, but he has a way of wording things in a way that run you around to where you started in the conversation, and I picked up on that, and now I stopped him from running around it again. I looked him in his face. I’m like, ‘What’s stopping you?’ He was like, ‘You know what? Let’s get you with [Johnny] Russo, give him a call, start coming up with some stuff.’ I was like okay, cool. Because at the time, I tore my meniscus, so I was out for four to six weeks or whatever. So it was like, okay, I’m going to be off TV for a little bit, but when I’m coming back, I’m having a whole change. I didn’t ask. I didn’t go through creative permission. I just did it. I came in the one day, and [William] Regal was like, ‘I like this. I love all this. This is really good.’ He was like, I wish I would have thought about this when I had my career. I was like, ‘Thank you, I appreciate that,'" said Swerve.
He continued, explaining how Hit Row was formed and how it related to being a Shawn Michaels guy or Triple H guy.
"That happened because Shawn was in the meetings, and we did the tape studies and stuff. He finally understood who I was and the type of performer I am. So they’re having meetings for TV the night before, and he’s texting me, ‘Okay, Trips is saying he wants to see this out of you. This is what he hasn’t seen yet.’ I’m like, that’s it? But they won’t tell you that. So I’m like, okay cool, bet. Me and Bronson Reed, next match, beat the hell out of each other. Boom, boom. He beats me, boom. I come back to the back. I look at Triple H through his eyes, I was like, ‘Am I one of your guys now?’ Straight to his face. He was like, ‘[Laughs], oh yeah.’ I’m like, okay, cool. I walk in, and Shawn just slaps me on the butt like a proud coach. He’s like, ‘That’s what I’m talking about.’ Because it felt like Shawn was rooting for me. They have that. Shawn and Triple H have their talents, they have their guys, and you can see it on the show. That’s a Triple H guy, that’s a Shawn guy. That was where I was kind of weaving into being the Shawn guy. It’s like, okay, now I’m getting there," said Swerve.
Elsewhere during the interview, Swerve recalled being "bullsitted around" at the WWE Performance Center. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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