Former AEW World Champion working through knee injury
The current storyline between AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada and former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland going into Sunday’s Forbidden Door match is somewhat based in reality.
The knee injury that has been brought up on AEW TV in the run-up is indeed legitimate as Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio.
Fightful Select provided more insight Thursday, noting Strickland is working through a torn meniscus that he first suffered in 2019 prior to his AEW tenure while at the WWE Performance Center. The outlet noted he was then back on TV after taking a month off.
Whether he gets surgery to repair the injury and the course of action going forward after Sunday is unknown. Fightful reported that another Khan family asset — the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars — are playing a role in helping Strickland through the injury via their medical staff.
The 34-year-old hasn’t wrestled in nearly a month, last seen defeating Hechicero on the July 23rd Dynamite.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.