AEW's Swerve Strickland Says Young Bucks Changed Their Minds On Anarchy In The Arena

We're days away from the eighth iteration of AEW Double or Nothing. Anarchy in the Arena is typically the pay-per-view's signature match. This year the event is in Queens, New York. The New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) is probably why we're seeing a Stadium Stampede match in its place as Anarchy in the Arena gets bloody and sometimes people get set on fire. The NYSAC isn't a fan of those things. The Young Bucks tweeted that they thought they were done with Stadium Stampede matches. They seem to have similar feelings about Anarchy in the Arena matches.

During an interview with Bootleg Kev, Swerve Strickland weighed in on Anarchy in the Arena match he participated in last year. There was a meeting the night before to plan out the match. He says the Bucks hated the match from 2024. "They said putting that together was a nightmare" and Matt Jackson promised he'd never do another one. Last year, they started realizing all of the elements they had with various talent and could do another Anarchy in the Arena. Adding Willow Nightingale and Marina Shafir "switched up the dynamics." After Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata got involved, "it wasn't just spots. We had characters to work with." He feels like that's where AEW shifted and they got their momentum back.

"Everyone was so unselfish." He asked Mox if he would take some staples and Mox agreed. He confirms it was his idea to take the staple in tongue and it stayed all match long. He told them to hurry up and do it before he changed his mind. Swerve says they were all laughing putting the match together and they had fun with it. "Everybody was proud of everybody else's performance."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Bootleg Kev and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.