AEW World Championship No. 1 contender Swerve Strickland is one of the select few to have spent time in both WWE and AEW, and he sees the merits of both. In the

Swerve Strickland tells the Bootleg Kev podcast how AEW’s rise as a competitor to WWE has created new opportunities for wrestlers and increased their value.

Cody Rhodes, a founding member of AEW, served as an executive vice president and wrestler, becoming the inaugural AEW TNT Champion. He departed in February 2022 and celebrated his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38.