Swerve Strickland Talks Shelton Benjamin's AEW Arrival

Swerve Strickland turned down MVP's offer at AEW WrestleDream, but he took some time to praise the manager's cohort, Shelton Benjamin, before they got into a heated exchange. Now it's only a matter of time until both wrestlers compete against each other, and Strickland is looking forward to facing off against another wrestler he grew up idolizing.

"It's pretty surreal. Honestly, over the last year, I've been doing that. I got into the ring with RVD, childhood hero, I got in the ring with Jeff Hardy, childhood hero, I got in the ring with Bryan Danielson at Wembley. These are guys I've been studying since I was a kid," Strickland said at the WrestleDream post-show media scrum. "With Shelton, we've had a match before but to do it on a new stage, once again, AEW does a great job bringing in these guys, these legends, and really bringing that shock back into them, revitalize them for the next stage of their career. With Shelton, it's gonna be a true gift to the AEW fans."

Benjamin debuted on the fifth-anniversary edition of "AEW Dynamite" and re-established his arrangement with MVP. The pair were notably part of the Hurt Business faction with Cedric Alexander and Bobby Lashley in WWE, and it's believed a variation of the group will continue in AEW. Lashley has reportedly signed a deal with the promotion, but it remains to be seen when he'll join his teammates on television. That said, if Lashley does show up on an AEW show, he probably won't be aligned with Strickland, as the former World Champion has made it clear that he won't align with MVP's stooges.