Report: AEW Attempting To Create 'Big Five' Tag Teams
Backstage booking notes for Swerve In Our Glory's AEW World Tag Team Title win.
Swerve In Our Glory became AEW World Tag Team Champions this week, dethroning The Young Bucks in a three-way bout also featuring Team Taz's Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs on Dynamite's 13 July Fyter Fest special.
A surprising result, but the match had a purpose beyond the title change.
Dave Meltzer reports in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the heavily-praised, all-action bout was done to elevate new champions Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee, as well as Hobbs and Starks, to the level of the Bucks, FTR, and the Lucha Brothers. These tandems will comprise AEW's "big five" teams while Santana & Ortiz and the Hardys are on the sidelines, and in the wake of Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy breaking up.
Matt and Jeff Hardy were reportedly due to take the titles from Jurassic Express prior to Christian Cage's turn on Jungle Boy. The Bucks ended up getting the belts when Jeff was arrested for his third DUI in 10 years, though the Hardys would have immediately dropped the gold to Strickland and Lee had this not happened.
Recent teases of friction between Lee and Strickland, including those in the Fyter Fest match, were done to make the title change feel like more of a surprise.