Reason For Swerve Strickland's AEW Absence (AEW News)

Details on why Swerve Strickland has been absent from AEW TV.

by Andrew Pollard
Swerve Strickland
AEW

Having been entirely absent from AEW programming since the March 25th episode of Dynamite, there's now an update on Swerve Strickland.

Per Fightful Select, Swerve recently filmed some promotional materials for Warner Bros. Discovery, though there are no details on the specifics of this work right now. This report adds that the former AEW World Champion was not scheduled to be at the Dynasty PPV this past weekend, and he was actually at a signing on the day of Dynasty.

The last time fans saw Swerve Strickland, he lost to Kenny Omega on that aforementioned edition of Dynamite. If Strickland had won that match, he'd have retained his number one contender status for the AEW World Title and earned himself Omega's EVP powers. Instead, it was Kenny getting the W and going on to face AEW World Champion MJF at Dynasty, with the Best Bout Machine ultimately coming up short against the Salt of the Earth.

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Interestingly, tonight's AEW Dynamite takes place from the Angels of the Wind Arena in Everett, Washington. Swerve is from Tacoma, Washington, and spent several years as a significant player in DEFY Wrestling out of Seattle, Washington. Also, as you can see below, Strickland is front-and-centre on the promotional poster for tonight's Dynamite. So, purely your writer speculating, but one has to imagine there's a solid chance of Swerve Strickland returning to AEW TV tonight.

AEW Dynamite Darby Allin Thekla Swerve Strickland MJF Kris Statlander
AEW

In the meantime, be sure to check out our recent interview with Swerve, talking All In 2026, his character evolution, creative freedom, the recent return of Will Ospreay, and plenty, plenty more.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.