AEW's Tony Khan Surprised WWE Released Swerve Strickland

Following weeks of rumours and speculation, Swerve Strickland made his All Elite Wrestling debut at the Revolution pay-per-view, signing his contract alongside Tony Schiavone. 

Tony Khan commented on Swerve's signing during the AEW Revolution media scrum and the AEW President admitted he was surprised by Strickland's WWE release. 

"I have a lot of ideas. Coming out of the pay-per-view, you always have to look at the injury toll. It was a hard-hitting pay-per-view and I don't want to speak for anybody until I get their medical status. There are a lot of great opponents in AEW for him and a lot went through crazy matches tonight. We'll see who is available on the roster, but I know there are big matches and dream matches involving Swerve and I'm very excited that he made his first appearance in AEW at Revolution," Khan said.

"In addition to Regal coming after Danielson and Moxley, I wanted to debut a star that would be great for us for the future and that's Swerve. It was somebody I was very surprised who would be released because he had done in the matches and segments I had seen and he was somebody I liked and I was looking to snap him up. Revolution, a night of great matches, would be a great stage for him to come out. It was a high-profile debut and he's a great wrestler. We have that many more dream matches in AEW."

Swerve previously performed for WWE from April 2019 until his release in November of 2021. Prior to that, Strickland was a popular star on the independent wrestling scene, performing for the likes of CZW and Lucha Underground.

H/T to Fightful