Popular AEW star shares insight to the backstage attitude of Roman Reigns in WWE
A popular AEW star has lavished praise on the backstage attitude of the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
The star in question is former AEW Tag Team Champion Swerve Strickland, who has recently begun his quest to take out every second-generation wrestler on the All Elite Wrestling roster.
Roman Reigns is one of the most successful second-generation wrestlers in history, with his father being Sika Anoa'i, a man who achieved a lot of success as part of The Wild Samoans.
A really cool story shared by a former NXT UK talent about his encounter with Roman Reigns a few years ago during a live event.
Locker room leader 👏👏👏 https://t.co/jf1Idsu8XF
Speaking on his "Swerve City" podcast, Strickland recalled a backstage story that he had heard about the Tribal Chief trying to make a wrestler who felt like an outcast feel included in the locker room.
"I wasn't there, but like, somebody told me this kind of story through third-party type thing. A member of the roster, they weren't doing much that night, but they were on TV or whatever. They were like, 'Hey man, what you got tonight?' 'Ah, nothing. I don't matter,' maybe just some backstage thing. Roman [Reigns] just stopped, held this dude's shoulder, and was like, 'Everybody matters.'" (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
AEW's Swerve Strickland was shocked that WWE acknowledged Jay Briscoe's death
Another topic that came up on Swerve's podcast was the recent passing of Jay Briscoe, who lost his life in a car accident on January 17th, 2023.
Companies such as AEW, ROH, and IMPACT Wrestling all paid tribute to Briscoe, as he had connections to all of those companies. However, a promotion that also paid their respects was WWE, a company Jay never wrestled for.
NXT paying tribute to Jay Briscoe is a reminder that despite the tribalism that some fans push, pro wrestling is just a huge family.
So happy to see them pay respects like this. https://t.co/rfBeGcnQvR
Vic Joseph and Booker T announced Jay's death on the January 17th edition of NXT and sent their condolences to the Pugh family. This was something that Swerve Strickland thought was a very big deal.
"Just to hear Booker T announce that and pay those respects live on air on 'NXT' was a big, big deal. I think people actually don't understand the impact of that. How big of a deal that is." (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
Other companies that have since paid tribute to Jay Briscoe include New Japan Pro Wrestling, GCW, and Pro Wrestling NOAH.
Have you enjoyed Swerve Strickland's run in AEW so far? Let us know in the comments section down below!