AEW Star Was Taken Aback By WWE NXT's Jay Briscoe Nod

One AEW star was pleasantly surprised when WWE showed its respect following the passing of Jay Briscoe. The former 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion and two-time ROH World Champion was killed in a traffic accident on January 17. During a recent episode of his "Swerve City Podcast," Swerve Strickland admitted he was taken aback when Briscoe's passing was acknowledged on "NXT." He talked about the significance of that moment.

"Just to hear Booker T announce that and pay those respects live on air on 'NXT' was a big, big deal," Strickland said. "I think people actually don't understand the impact of that. How big of a deal that is."

"Daddy Magic" Matt Menard and "Cool Hand Ang" Angelo Parker were guests on Strickland's podcast. Parker expressed his belief that there is tribalism when it comes to wrestling, to the point where even those who didn't know Briscoe joined in solidarity. It reminded Strickland of the time WWE superstar Roman Reigns made sure that a talent, who hadn't been a major player in the wrestling business, knew he was being seen.

"I wasn't there, but like, somebody told me this kind of story through third-party type thing," Strickland said. "A member of the roster, they weren't doing much that night, but they were on TV or whatever. They were like, 'Hey man, what you got tonight?' 'Ah, nothing. I don't matter,' maybe just some backstage thing. Roman just stopped, held this dude's shoulder, and was like, 'Everybody matters.'"

Strickland said telling someone something like what Reigns said to the unnamed talent can change someone's entire perspective for the night.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Swerve City Podcast," with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.