Former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland recently made headlines with his appearance on VladTV. He made several remarks about his time in WWE and took issue with Booker T saying he got fair treatment.
“That’s not what happened when Vince [McMahon] said the n-word in front of you. That’s not being treated fair, my opinion,” Strickland said. “To that statement, it’s not even what I’m saying; I’m saying what people are saying. I’m saying what your audience is saying. So it’s not just me just talking out of my ass out of nowhere.
It’s what your audience has been complaining about for the better part of two, three years from not seeing Black talent even getting singles matches on PLEs and stuff like that. Now, those guys are on socials more. They talk back and forth with the fans a little bit more, so you can’t ignore that anymore.”
Booker T Addresses Swerve Strickland’s Remarks
Booker is now speaking out about Strickland’s comments, explaining on the recent episode of his Hall of Fame podcast that he had a face-to-face confrontation with him at an event over his appearance. He notes that he had opportunities to appear on Vlad TV but turned them down.
“I’ve been the first one saying it, any brother getting his bag, I’m all in 100%,” he said. “I told Swerve Strickland to his face how disappointed I am in him as a young brother because all I did for Swerve Strickland was put him over and put him on a pedestal as being one of the best out there, that he deserves to be the AEW Champion.
“I don’t know if these guys think racism stopped in 1990 when I got in the business, but it didn’t. You may not hear about a lot of racial issues with Booker T because I handled racial issues handfirst [sic]. I opened doors, I broke down barriers for people like Swerve Strickland. Swerve Strickland would perhaps not even be here if it wasn’t for me.”
Later in his remarks, Booker again expresses extreme disappointment toward Strickland, noting he told him he “got played.”
“I’m upset because more importantly I’m disappointed in Swerve Strickland because what I told him — I’ll repeat it just like I repeated it to him, you got played. You got played bro. You got played; you let that man [VladTV] play you and pit you against me and me against you.”
The post Booker T Confronts Swerve Strickland Over Recent Remarks: “You Got Played, Bro” appeared first on VICE.
