Swerve Strickland, now a main event star in AEW, opened up about his time in WWE, shedding light on his experience at the WWE Performance Center and why he felt he didn’t connect with Triple H. During an interview on VladTV, the former NXT star, who performed under the name Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, reflected on a pivotal moment that highlighted his frustrations and the mindset that may have contributed to his challenges in WWE.
Strickland recounted a significant experience that underscored his struggles at the Performance Center. After being with WWE for three to four months, he was called to compete on 205 Live against Drew Gulak for the Cruiserweight Championship. The match took place after a SmackDown taping, with Strickland and Gulak going 18 minutes in the ring as the final bout of the night. The crowd was highly engaged, chanting “Let’s go Swerve!” and holding up “Swerve’s House” signs, which made Strickland feel he had proven his worth. However, he felt he was being “bullsh*tted around” at the Performance Center, as he wasn’t given the opportunities he believed he deserved following such a performance.
He likened the situation to a basketball player dropping 30 points in an NBA game but being sent back to the G League for more development, a comparison that highlighted his frustration with WWE’s developmental system at the time.
Reflecting on why he didn’t gel with Triple H, Strickland pointed to his own mindset during that period, which he described as “too brash” and “too over-thinking.” He explained that Triple H’s extensive responsibilities—managing SmackDown, RAW, shareholder meetings, and public appearances—meant he wasn’t as hands-on with the Performance Center talent as Strickland needed.
In contrast, he found a stronger connection with Shawn Michaels, who was more directly involved and could offer the mentorship Strickland sought to become a top main event star.
Here’s what Swerve said:
“The one day I knew I was getting bulls***ted around the PC was when I was there for three or four months, and I got called to do 205 Live against Drew Gulak, who had the Cruiserweight Championship. 205 Live is a show that takes place after SmackDown. So after SmackDown, you see the Roman Reigns, you see all those big names. They close off SmackDown, then they do another show for the extra content on the WWE Network at the time.
“It was three matches, and we were the last one. It was me and Drew Gulak, we went 18 minutes in the ring, straight, for the Cruiserweight Championship. Everybody’s on their feet, going crazy. I have Swerve’s House signs, going after Roman, I have Swerve’s House signs. They’re not chanting, ‘This is awesome’, They’re chanting, ‘Let’s go Swerve.’ They’re actually rooting for me to win this title.
I end up losing to Drew Gulak. Got great praise in the back afterwards. Charlotte [Flair], Bayley, Kofi [Kingston], Samoa Joe, everybody’s giving me crazy praise. I come back to the PC, and they’re trying to teach you arm drags again. I’m like, get the f**k out of here with that [laughs]. They’re trying to tell me how to entertain 400 people in NXT when I just entertained 6,000 in a stadium. I’m like, why are you trying to backtrack me? I already showcased what I can do in front of 6,000.
Mind you, that’s the end game to all this. The end game is to get me there, of what this product is. That’s like, you don’t bring the guy from the G League, he drops 30 in the NBA, and come back to practice back at the G League, and it’s like, ‘Let’s put him on the bench. He needs more development.’ I’m like, I just dropped 30 on Giannis. What are we doing?
So that was the mindset I had. It was kind of too brash, it was too over-thinking, and there’s where I kind of clashed with Triple H, as far as we didn’t gel. I really gelled with Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels was the one, because he didn’t have the full power, he was just an advocate, and he as a partner to Triple H because he was more hands-on with the talent. Out of all the coaches and all the people and the staff there, Triple H still had to go to the main roster and SmackDown and Raw and do a lot of these public appearances. He still had to do the shareholder meetings and all that, so he couldn’t be there every day, but he was there pretty often.
Shawn is the only one out of all those coaches that could really teach you how to be a top main event star. That’s the only one there. So I’m like, that’s who I need to get with. Why can’t I get with him?
I was like, ‘I want to get in Shawn Michaels’ class.’ ‘Well, Shawn, he’s not really doing classes right now. He’s not really holding classes because he’s so busy with the show.’ I was like, ‘Well, can I get a meeting with him.’ He was like, ‘I mean, his office is right over there.’ Bet. Went over there, found Shawn.
I was like, ‘Hey Shawn, do you mind if I do tape studies with you?’ He’s like, ‘Absolutely.’ I’m like, it’s that f**king easy? I’ve been here a year and a half, and I could have just walked up to his office? But that’s those things, they don’t give you those curriculums. That’s not part of it. That’s the game. They want that run-around until you earn the ‘sweat equity’ to be able to go over there, to be like, oh, now you’re worthy of talking to Shawn because you put in all this stuff.”
Strickland’s time in WWE began in 2019 when he signed a developmental contract and joined NXT. He later became part of the Hit Row faction alongside AJ “Top Dolla” Francis, Ashante “Thee” Adonis, and B-Fab.
Despite some success, including winning the NXT North American Championship, his tenure was short-lived. The entire Hit Row group was released in November 2021, a move Strickland attributed to backstage heat involving a group member upsetting someone in management, which led to Vince McMahon’s dissatisfaction with the faction. While the rest of Hit Row eventually returned to WWE in 2022, Strickland chose a different path, signing with AEW in March 2022.
Since joining AEW, Strickland has thrived, winning the AEW World Championship and AEW World Tag Team Championship.
