Swerve Strickland Was Told Not To Use ‘House Call’ As Signature Move In WWE NXT

Swerve Strickland’s career has seen tremendous growth since he inked a contract with Tony Khan. While it took some time to really get moving, his reign as AEW World Champion put him on the top of the card, and his House Call finisher was a highlight of his move set. That being said, those in NXT didn’t see that move in the same way.

The former AEW World Champion has showcased a variety of finishing moves throughout his career, including the House Call, JML Driver, and the Swerve Stomp. In AEW, the House Call has become a signature move, allowing him to strike down opponents of any size, which is very important for a signature move.

However, during his time in NXT, the House Call wasn’t always considered a viable finishing move. They advised against using it, but that is now seen as guidance from a long distance portion of his career.

Speaking on No Contest Wrestling with O’Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson, Swerve Strickland reflected on how the move was viewed differently in NXT. He said that both Triple H and Shawn Michaels advised against using it as a finisher.

“When I first started doing [the House Call] in NXT, I would hit it, but some people would duck and it would [skims top of head]. Triple H was like, ‘Don’t use it as a finish. I like it, but don’t use it as a finish.’ Shawn [Michaels] would agree with him, ‘Yeah, it’s not a finish. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn’t.’ People are ducking from it. If you duck from it, of course I’m going to miss. You of all people, Shawn, you do a superkick. He’s like, ‘It’s not a finish.'”

Swerve Strickland then admitted that after receiving this feedback, he struggled to find a replacement finisher while in NXT. The return of Finn Bálor also limited his options, as he couldn’t continue using the Swerve Stomp, because Balor used that Coup De Gras which was pretty much the same move.

As he drew inspiration from Japanese wrestler Naruki Doi, Strickland incorporated the Naruki Driver into his move set, but even that wasn’t without its challenges, especially when it came to using it on larger opponents like Bronson Reed.

“I struggled finding a new finish for a while in NXT. Finn came back, so I couldn’t do the Swerve Stomp. I’m a big fan of Naruki Doi. He does the Naruki Driver. Shoutout to SATs, Storm Cradle Driver is the original. I saw that and I was using it on Leon Ruff. ‘I can hit that.’ Bronson Reed came up and I was like ‘Ughhh, how do I do this?'”

When the time came for him to challenge Bronson Reed for the NXT North American Championship, everything came full circle. Despite the initial objections, Shawn Michaels gave him the green light to use the House Call as his finishing move.

“It came time to win the North American Title, this is like a year apart, Bronson is the North American Champion, Shawn is like, ‘We were coming up with creative for the finish. Can you do that kick for the finish?’ You gotta be kidding me. I had to circle a whole year of Shawn being like, ‘Now you can do what you want.'”

Swerve Strickland’s journey in pro wrestling is worthy of a documentary at this point. It’s anyone’s guess where he would be in WWE if AEW never signed him after his release, because Triple H assuming control of the company also included interest to re-sign the former Hit Row leader.

Strickland isn’t leaving AEW any time soon, as he just inked a giant deal with AEW to extend his time in the company. That was a huge deal, one that WWE allegedly saw as bad for business.

From having his signature move doubted to eventually using it as the finishing blow in a championship match only illustrates the challenges that Swerve Strickland faced in NXT. Today, the House Call is one of his impactful moves in his arsenal, one that he used to clinch the AEW World Title. Only time will tell if Swerve uses is once again in the near future to regain that top spot in AEW.