Swerve Strickland: It’s Time To Start Gatekeeping Wrestling Again

Swerve Strickland talks gatekeeping in wrestling.

At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on August 24th, Swerve Strickland would go one on one with Kazuchika Okada for the AEW Unified Championship. Strickland would come up short in the bout, and after, Okada would assault Strickland’s already injured knee. Okada would trap Swerve’s leg between the steel steps and the ring post before hitting it with a chair until Prince Nana rushed out with a steel pipe.

In a new social media post on Monday morning, Swerve noted that ‘it was time to start gatekeeping wrestling again’.

It's time to start gatekeeping Wrestling again

— The Realest Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident) August 25, 2025

Following Nana’s attempt to save Strickland, Wardlow would make his surprise AEW return, brutalizing Nana before revealing himself as the newest member of the Don Callis Family. You can read more about that here.

Strickland has been dealing with a knee injury since 2019. You can read more about the details surrounding Swerve’s injury on Fightful Select.

Earlier this week, Strickland named himself amongst three other names as the ‘definitions’ of AEW right now. You can read more about that here.

For the full results for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, including Swerve Strickland’s bout with Kazuchika Okada, you can read more about that here.