AEW: Swerve Strickland on AEW Locker Room Vibe Being “Great”, Kris Statlander on Competing at All In Pre-Show Isn’t “Bad Thing”, Jeff Jarrett on Hoping to Play Role for AEW Event in Mexico

Swerve Strickland Comments on Vibe in AEW Locker Room Being “Great”

A recent episode of the Barstool Rasslin podcast featured Swerve Strickland as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Strickland’s thoughts about the state of AEW’s locker room vibe.

“It’s been great. I think that everything’s been exploited, definitely been blown out of proportion with a lot of things. They say it’s every other week, but it’s like, go back the last week, what did you hear? Go back the week before, go back the last month, go back to almost six months now, you’ve heard nothing. So therefore to me, it’s almost calculated to a t, before every pay-per-view, right before every big moment we have, there’s always something that comes out because there’s always bickering in a locker room, that’s universal in any workplace. I’m pretty sure you have it with people behind the camera. But I’m pretty sure people said some things that they’re not particularly proud of, or you’re not happy about. It happens. But it’s not made for the internet. It happens, and then it goes away. It happens everywhere. So to me, I’d rather have people care and be upset about something than not give a damn at all. These are people that are passionate about their jobs and their work and what they do, and they’re also probably the best at what they do. So those people take a lot of those things to heart. That shows me y’all care. Literally, to me, it’s about who’s saying what to how loud it’s being said to what forum. Like I said, I feel like AEW is always on the defensive of those things, and that’s what comes with being the alternative. We have to play defense a lot in those scenarios, but that doesn’t stop us from continuing to put on great product and great shows. That doesn’t stop us from people wanting to still come over and be in All Elite Wrestling. That doesn’t stop any of that. So y’all can have fun with the story, but then okay, cool, we back to business, making money and doing great business and growing.”

In response to a comment by host Brandon Walker about every talent he has interviewed from AEW has talked about the same focus on pushing in the same direction and growing the business, Strickland stated:

“It is, it is for me. What do I do in those situations? We rally, we get back on the train, we get the show started. We put on a great product. I don’t let it faze me and I try not to let it faze other people. You kind of give them that motivational speech to keep them on…. We look at the NFL, and we see the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks fighting each other, and nobody’s saying the Pittsburgh Steelers are gonna fall apart, and the organization’s done for and they’re gonna lose everything. No, it’s ultra-competitive. These are competitive people. It happens everywhere.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Kris Statlander Comments on Competing at AEW All In 2024 Pre-Show Not Being a Bad Thing for Her

A recent episode of the Under The Ring podcast featured Kris Statlander as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Statlander’s thoughts about how competing on the Zero Hour pre-show at AEW All In 2024 is not a bad thing and how it can be beneficial instead.

“I mean, I think there’s benefits to being on multiple spots on the card. I think probably the ideal, best spot, in my opinion, that I’ve ever wrestled in was like the third match on the show. That’s a really good spot because there’s a lot of pressure on the first matches. It’s kind of like setting the tone for how the show is going to go. Again, I don’t know the order of the card, but being on the Zero Hour is definitely not a bad thing. It’s still being a part of the show, and I’ve done a lot of Zero Hours lately. So a good way, a good thing that I like to think of it is like, again, you get to set the tone for the show, and then once you’re done, you get to relax and you get to watch everything else, which I love to do.

As honorable as it is to be in the main event, there’s so much pressure with that, because you close out the show. I hope that one day I can be worthy of that position. But I’m, I’m very content with the position being on Zero Hour, being third, first, fifth on a show. I’m just happy to be included.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Jeff Jarrett Comments on Hoping to Help Bring Future AEW Event to Mexico

A recent episode of the My World with Jeff Jarrett podcast featured co-host Jeff Jarrett’s thoughts about the importance of professional wrestling in Mexico and hoping to play a role in bringing a future AEW event to Mexico.

“Without question. Here is what I think is lost so much — I guess with the first hand experience I’ve had, because I’ve been going down there for twenty years, me and Karen. In Mexico, wrestling is a part of the culture in so many ways. Mexico City, the greater area is like 20, 21 million people or something along those lines. That’s the size of Mumbai, I mean there is an enormous population. Wrestling is all over the country, it has been for multiple generations. The short answer is, it’s not like you’re bringing professional wrestling to a brand new market. It’s part of the culture in Mexico, and the AEW style of wrestling is very applicable to the market in so many ways because you kind of look at, you could name lots of AEW stars that have bits of Lucha in their repertoire.

You’ve got stars that are big business and have done big business. Jericho, in his early days, learned a ton down there. I can go on and on, but the shorter answer is absolutely. Yes, I’m looking forward to hopefully being a part of making that all come together. I would say we’re not too far off in heading that direction and seeing AEW in the market.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com