AEW's Swerve Strickland Reportedly Working With Torn Meniscus, Could Require Surgery

Former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland is currently in the UK preparing for his big AEW Unified Championship match with Kazuchika Okada at this Sunday's Forbidden Door pay-per-view. Strickland has been one of AEW's biggest stars over the past two years, and thanks to a new report from Fightful Select, he's risen to the top of the wrestling business whilst being injured.

The recent angle on the August 13 episode of "AEW Dynamite" where Strickland had been seen by company doctors regarding a possible knee injury isn't too far from reality as Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select has reported that Strickland is indeed working hurt, and has been for a while. Strickland has reportedly been working with a torn meniscus, an injury that originally occurred all the way back in 2019 when he was injured at the WWE Performance Center during training. At the time, Strickland rehabbed the injury for a month and returned to TV almost immediately, and has remained a constant presence on AEW programming since his debut at the Revolution pay-per-view in March 2022.

Sources within AEW have noted that Strickland has actually been receiving help from the Jacksonville Jaguars medical team as of late, but despite all of the help he has been getting, there is a chance that Strickland may have to have surgery in order to repair his torn meniscus. If Strickland does go under the knife, it is likely that he will be out of action for a significant amount of time, but a timetable on when he could return won't be available until after the procedure. Fightful noted that this could change the immediate future of AEW given Strickland's position in the company as a main event talent, but that he is still slated to wrestle Okada as planned on Sunday night.