Swerve Strickland Adds New Affiliates

By Sai Mohan
Swerve Strickland during a match on AEW TV AEW

A new faction by the name of "Mogul Affiliates" made its presence known on the 12/21 "AEW Dynamite" in San Antonio, Texas.

Swerve Strickland, the leader of the new group, was supposed to hash out his differences with Keith Lee in a face-to-face confrontation mediated by rapper Rick Ross. Instead, Strickland had other ideas and refused to enter the ring as he berated Lee for his failure to "keep the eye on the ball" and to stay healthy during their run as Swerve In Our Glory. Strickland would then warn Lee to keep his eyes on the back of his head, following which Parker Boudreaux jumped Lee from behind. 

After fighting off Boudreaux, Lee began charging up the ramp towards Strickland, until he was ambushed by an unknown tattooed individual. Thereafter, Boudreaux and Strickland's other affiliate began ganging up on Lee, prompting Swerve into a burst of maniacal laughter. The segment ended with Strickland hitting a vicious double stomp off the top rope, smashing a cinder block that was placed on Lee's chest area. 

It was later revealed by Fightful Select that the mysterious individual in Strickland's new stable is Granden Goetzman, a former professional baseball player who has been "training for quite some time" in preparation for his AEW debut. Goetzman, a former second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011, last played baseball in Mexico in 2021 until he made the switch to professional wrestling.  

Fightful's report added that Goetzman has been training at Jay Lethal's school, and that "his debut was planned out at the very least a couple of weeks in advance." At this point, it's unknown if he will be going by his real name on AEW television. AEW's announcers did not confirm his identity during the live "AEW Dynamite" broadcast.

After the show went off the air, Strickland's new faction appeared together for a backstage interview, as seen below.

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