Swerve Strickland didnt leave AEW Dynasty with the World Championship, but he definitely left with a mic in his handand a bold message.
After Jon Moxley pinned Swerve in the main event, the former champ-in-waiting took the mic and said to a packed Philadelphia crowd: F** Booker T.*
It wasnt a promo. It wasnt storyline. It was personaland WWE Hall of Famer Booker T didnt need long to respond.
On a new episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker addressed the now-viral clip and made his stance on Strickland loud and clear. Woke up this morning and I wondered, why is my name trending? I see the video of Swerve Strickland saying, F** Booker T at the end of Dynasty. Im not gonna even get upset about it,* he began.
Instead of anger, Booker offered up some old-school wrestling wisdom: Im going to give Swerve Strickland a little bit of advice, just a little bit. That advice would be: dont be talking about something other than the pay-per-view at the end of the night. Thats the main event and the last thing people are going to remember. The last thing people are going to remember is memy name being said. Im sure Tony Khan dont appreciate the news, the headline not being what happened at Dynasty with all the matches. Theyre talking about Booker T. That was a bad move.
Booker also made it clear hes not here for passive aggression. Im from that school, if you got something to say to somebody, say it to their face. Im gonna leave it at that.
He wished Strickland well in wrestling but emphasized doing it the right way. Hopefully, Swerve Strickland has a hell of a career, and hell do very well in this business. Im going to keep stressing what Ive talked about for a long timego out there and get it on your talent and merit. Nobody will ever be able to say you got it because of only for your talent.
But Booker made one thing clearhes done putting Swerve over in any way. Would I ever say anything positive about him, ever again? Probably not. Would I ever put him over as far as being a good worker and perhaps transform this business? I probably wont do that again. Ive learned my lesson. I aint gonna bring a personal beef to my job.
Booker also pointed fingers at DJ Vlad, who originally hosted the interview where Booker critiqued Swerves marketabilityan appearance that reportedly never happened. The only one laughing is Vlad TV. He got all this stuff started and stirred up. I thought this thing was over with, I really did. The last thing I thought about was waking up this morning to a F** You.*
He didnt stop there, addressing what he sees as generational differences in how things are handled today: This generation, man. Im an advocate for all young Black talent to get into this business, but Im an advocate for so many more young kids than just Black kids. Im an advocate for anybody who has the talent to actually make it to the next level. Ill put a word in for them. I think my reputation has been solid. I dont publicize a lot of things. The guys out therethey know. They know if Ive been on the side of righteousness. They know what Booker T has done behind the scenes. I dont have to talk about it on social media. Im not trying to get extra brownie points for anything Ive done, but they know.
Booker ended his response with one final line: People like Swerve, we come from a different cloth, a totally different cloth. I wish nothing but the best for this dude. I want to see him succeed but I probably wont ever say anything positive about him again.
The mic-drop moment from Swerve and Bookers reaction have now overshadowed the actual AEW Dynasty main event, drawing more conversation than the match itself. Whether AEW addresses the incident publicly or lets it die down remains to be seenbut fans are eating it up either way.
Was Swerve wrong for calling out Booker T in that moment? Or was he just finishing what got started a long time ago? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.
