In the present day, wrestling fans know Swerve Strickland as a former AEW World Champion and the self-proclaimed “most dangerous man.” From 2015 until 2018, though, he performed as a masked wrestler named Killshot for Lucha Underground.

During an interview with the “Battleground Podcast,” Strickland looked back on his former persona, which he says laid the groundwork for his bigger and current success in AEW.

“I feel like at the time I learned all that I could at that level with Lucha Underground and that’s what gave me the confidence to become Swerve,” Strickland said. “I needed to take the Killshot, not the name, but the education, the skillset, the knowledge and that instinct, the confidence that I grew becoming Killshot in The Temple of Lucha Underground. I had to take that confidence and put that towards Swerve and make Swerve that performer that Killshot was. And then that grew immensely when I got into AEW. The confidence grew again.”

At the start of his Lucha Underground stint, Strickland simply aimed to become an “entity” on it. Following his famous Hell of War match with AR Fox, also known as Dante Fox, Strickland then felt like a top performer — an attitude he now applies to his television work with AEW.

Across his four-season run with Lucha Underground, Strickland enjoyed a lengthy run with the Trios Championships. Under the AEW banner, he’s so far earned one reign as AEW Tag Team Champion alongside Keith Lee, then one as AEW World Champion in 2024.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Battleground Podcast” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Working through injuries is all part of the business. Some may linger longer than most. For “The Party Peacock” everyone knows in ROH and AEW as Dalton Castle, reality didn’t set in on the severity of one one of those injuries right away. In an interview with “What Happened When,” the former ROH World Champion recalls what he thought was a pressing pulled muscle, when really, it was something much more serious.

“I wrestled for quite a long time with a broken back, undiagnosed,” Castle revealed. “I broke my hand in the middle of it…I think it was 2016…I just pulled the muscle, is what I initially thought. Like, I had this, I was traveling in freestyle. I was professional wrestling, but on the side, I would still train in regular wrestling. And I just was this real hard go with this guy. And he cranked his neck the same time my back popped…And then I woke up in the middle of the night in the worst pain of my life, where I couldn’t lie down, couldn’t sit up, couldn’t move…it was, like, electric.”

Castle mentioned that when he spoke with his doctor, after successfully bending over to touch his toes, his doctor thought his back was inflamed. On the contrary, the pain was so excruciating for Castle, that before every match during that time, he was seen lying on ice packs seconds before hitting the ring. Dropping the ROH World Title to Jay Lethal in a four-way match that had Matt Taven and Cody Rhodes also participating, Castle left in June of 2018 to return more soundly that October.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “What Happened When podcast with Tony Schiavone and Conrad Thompson” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription. 

Since retiring from MMA in 2023 and professional wrestling last August, Jake Hager seems to be doing alright for himself. Despite approaching a new career path in creating his own trucking company, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion couldn’t stray too far away from the combat sports world. In an exclusive interview with TMZ’s “Inside The Ring,” Hager revealed his next project in the sport, which he is very excited about.

“I’m so excited to announce that I’ve signed with UFC Power Slap, Hager announced. “And they’re doing a show on April 17 in Vegas live. That’s the Friday before ‘Mania. I’ll be competing in that show in the heavyweight division.” Later in his interview he added, “You know, I’ve been told I have a very slappable face, so I’m sure the line will be around the corner.”

As the name implies, Power Slap, is a fighting show where contestants literally slap their way to the top in hopes of becoming the next “Power Slap League” tournament victor. This promotion is owned by the Chief Executive Officer of UFC, Dana White. Originally on TBS, this program went from there to Rumble and now to YouTube. The current champion in Hager’s weight class is Damien Dibbell, whose held the title since May 24, 2023. 

Hager is a former WWE Superstar, working for the Stamford-based promotion from 2006-2017. He’d later join WWE’s top rival in AEW in 2019, aligning himself with Chris Jericho’s first-led stable in the company, The Inner Circle. In May of 2024, Hager chose not to re-sign his AEW contract. After his departure, he was quite critical of company’s President and CEO, Tony Khan. 

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “TMZ Sports” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Talks between WWE and Grammy Award winner Jelly Roll regarding a potential WWE WrestleMania 42 appearance are reportedly revving up.

Following his recent outings at TNA Wrestling, WWE’s partner promotion, Jelly Roll returned to “WWE SmackDown” on Friday as a special guest for “Miz TV,” which is hosted by former WWE Champion The Miz. What initially started as The Miz offering to mentor Jelly in the ring then escalated to verbal insults and “The A-Lister” getting blasted with a punch that was meant for Kit Wilson.

According to BodySlam+, WWE officials have discussed the possibility of Jelly competing in a tag team match at WrestleMania 42, specifically with Royce Keys (formerly known as Powerhouse Hobbs) as his partner. Jelly and Keys would reportedly find common ground through the past “hardships” of their respective lives.

The outlet did not clarify who Jelly and Keys’ grand stage opponents would be, though based on recent events, Kit Wilson and The Miz seem to be potential options. Next week, Wilson is slated to call out Jelly on “SmackDown,” which will emanate from Raleigh, North Carolina.

During their interaction on the March 13 edition, Jelly claimed he was a fan of Wilson’s, so much so that the singer even performed Wilson’s signature dance. Wilson, however, interpreted that as a symbol of mockery. The Pretty Deadly member further asserted that Jelly was “toxic” and promoting an “unhealthy beauty standard.” After Wilson then delivered a shove, Jelly fired back with a punch. Unfortunately for the Miz, Wilson’s quick ducking resulted in Jelly’s fist connecting with his face instead.

Jelly made his in-ring debut in a tag bout alongside Randy Orton at last year’s WWE SummerSlam event. And despite coming up short, his efforts managed to impress to WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque.