Swerve Strickland Says CM Punk Has Always Been A Positive Influence on Him

Swerve Strickland, known for his dynamic presence in the AEW roster, has been on an absolute tear over the past several months. He has many professional wrestlers he truly respects and that includes CM Punk as well.

In 2021, CM Punk made waves by joining AEW, quickly becoming a major star there. He won the AEW World Championship at Double or Nothing 2022, but his reign was hindered by injuries and a suspension following a controversial incident at AEW All Out 2022.

Despite a comeback in June 2023, an incident involving Jack Perry led to his contract termination. However, Punk shocked fans with comeback to WWE at Survivor Series 2023, signaling a new phase in his career.

While Strickland and Punk didn’t have significant interactions in All Elite Wrestling, they did participate in a multi-man All-Star tag team match preceding AEW All In last year. Despite this limited engagement, many AEW stars have expressed nothing but positive sentiments about Punk. Despite his controversial exit from the promotion and subsequent return to WWE, Punk seems to have left a lasting positive impression on his former colleagues in AEW.

During a recent interview with Bootleg Kev, Swerve discussed his experience working with Punk in AEW, offering nothing but praise for the former AEW World Champion.

“I was his last TV match. The All-Star tag match on Collision. I had great experiences with him. Didn’t interact with him a lot, but I always had positive interactions. My first day there, I was taking my photos and renders, and he jumped in and photobombed it. I never even spoke to him or had an introduction, but that was his first interaction to me. I was like, ‘This is cool, that’s dope.’ When I went out and did my contract signing, he was like, ‘How did it go?’ ‘It went excellent, thank you.’ He’s always been a positive influence with me.”

As for Strickland himself, he performed at Rolling Loud this week and had a great time there. Nevertheless, fans will always be sad that CM Punk was fired by AEW and that’s not changing.

Do you feel Swerve Strickland and CM Punk should have had a proper feud? Let us know in the comments section below!