"It's up to him" - Swerve Strickland reacts to rumors of AEW signing a former WWE US Champion
Former WWE star Ricochet is rumored to join AEW soon. Meanwhile, Swerve Strickland has reacted to the prospect of the former United States Champion heading to the Tony Khan-led company.
On July 1, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that The Human Highlight Reel's WWE contract had expired. Ricochet chose not to renew his deal and is no longer with the global juggernaut. Many expect him to join All Elite Wrestling as many of his friends work in the company.
On the Battleground Podcast, AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland recently talked about his history with The One and Only.
"I mean, we’ve [Swerve Strickland and Ricochet] had our matches without the masks in MLW. We’ve had Strickland versus Ricochet before. It’s up to him. I don’t know. We’ll see. Competition’s stiff in AEW and there’s also a different type of ladder to climb in a lot of different ways here. It doesn’t necessarily make it easier. It’s difficulties on both sides of things, and you gotta adapt."
The Realest warned Ricochet of the growing competition in AEW and highlighted the challenges the latter could face if he signed with the Tony Khan-led company.
"AEW is—now more than ever, you gotta be an adaptable performer, way more so in AEW nowadays and so, if that’s true, get ready to put a different type of working boots on, and there’s a lot of people that don’t wanna make it easy, for anybody. It’s already not easy for me in the position I’m in. So, and I’ve been in the position of the new guy coming in and I had to adapt. A lot of people have tried to adapt and they couldn’t do it. So, that goes to show you the type of locker room, the type of talent, the type of energy, the type of workload that comes in AEW." [H/T: POST Wrestling]
Swerve Strickland seemingly sent a warning to Ricochet
In June 2024, reports of Ricochet's WWE exit began circulating on social media. Many fans have since been requesting Tony Khan to hire him.
Seeing the former United States Champion's insane popularity among AEW fans, Swerve Strickland seemingly sent a message to him on X/Twitter.
"U come here I'm giving u hell," he tweeted.
Strickland's message was an indirect warning to The Human Highlight Reel about potentially signing with the Jacksonville-based company. Both stars share a storied history, as they have faced each other in MLW and Lucha Underground.