• Swerve Strickland Fined $100,000 & Suspended From Collision
The fallout from Swerve Strickland’s brutal assault on Kenny Omega has arrived, and the former AEW World Champion is facing a massive financial and professional penalty.
During the February 21 broadcast of AEW Collision, management announced that Strickland has been slapped with a $100,000 fine. Additionally, he has received a suspension that specifically bans him from appearing on Saturday nights for the time being.
The sanctions stem from the chaotic ending to the February 18 edition of Dynamite. In the main event against Omega, Swerve showed a blatant disregard for authority and safety.
To avoid a devastating V-Trigger, Strickland pulled referee Aubrey Edwards into the line of fire, using her as a human shield.
After securing the win with a House Call and Big Pressure, Swerve refused to stop his attack. In a post-match rampage, he choked Omega with a steel chain, physically threw the referee out of the ring, and capped off the night by spiking Omega through the announcer’s table with a Vertebreaker.
While Swerve walked away with the victory on Wednesday, the heavy fines and Saturday suspension serve as a clear warning from AEW officials regarding his increasingly unhinged behavior.
• Hall Of Famer Reacts To Fans Saying WWE is a “MAGA Company”
On his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff reacted to fans claiming that WWE is a “MAGA company” due to their association with U.S. President Donald Trump:
“Isn’t the fact that it was WWE who introduced Bad Bunny to the mainstream American audience in a bigger way than anybody outside the music industry? How can we say that? How can we arrive at the conclusion that WWE is one way or another when, in fact, they’re giving both sides of the equation great entertainment?
If all they would do is book hardcore conservative country acts — yeah, okay. But that’s not the case. They’re not doing that.
I think people are trying to make more out of this because it’s good commentary. It’s good clickbait. It’s great podcast conversation. I think it’s just a lot of freaking cheap noise.
Cheap heat in wrestling, which is why it’s considered cheap heat, because it’s so freaking easy to get. It has no value. This is kind of like cheap content.
And I think the internet wrestling community is creating it because now they have something new to fight about, make fun of each other over, and accuse each other of horrific things. Now we can do that and talk about wrestling at the same time. That’s what all this is.
I think it’s a sad commentary.”
