Jim Cornette Reviews Swerve Strickland vs. Brian Cage on AEW Dynamite

From Episode 343 of the Jim Cornette's Drive Thru
Artwork by Travis Heckel!
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[@barrymccockiner773]

Drew McIntyre’s 5 minute reign > whatever they’re doing to Swerve

[@DynastyIcon]

your created wrestlers title reign on 2k >>> whatever they're doing with Swerve

[@BrickFighter13]

@@DynastyIconThe Dark Horse’s Universal Title Reign>>>>>>Swerve’s reign

[@hankhill4552]

Drew’s title reign was just a CM Punk lapdance and it’s better than this garbage

[@BenjiXAddictX4Ever]

​@@hankhill4552Drew vs Punk is better than Swerve vs Christian.

[@leonel87658]

Yeah, Drew kinda was overtaken by his hate for and what happened here would be if punk brought Aj Lee and Larry and have them beat him up

[@chamae01]

One of the strangest championship runs I've seen.

[@MoxyOh]

It reminds me a bit of Rey's run in WWE after Eddie died. They put the strap on him because they *had* to, not because they *wanted* to.

[@Cruising_On_Lake_Havasoma]

@@MoxyOh That was brutal, it terms of how he was booked as champ Rey might have had the worst title run of anyone in any promotion I've ever seen. He couldn't beat ANYBODY. Couldn't even get a clean win over Sabu on PPV, and Sabu was a complete afterthought in WWE.

[@wilcee238]

Jack Swagger had a worse run. It seemed like he couldn’t beat anyone.

[@MoxyOh]

@@wilcee238 ngl I wasn't watching the show when Swagger had the belt. If it wasn't for Alex Jones going apeshit about Zeb Coulter I wouldn't have known it happened.

[@vb2806]

​@@MoxyOha guy like Rey shouldn't be world champion anyway

[@ashleyburns6752]

The lack of hierarchy issue again. One week you are a main eventer selling for a top guy, the next week you are in a long match selling the same amount for a mid carder. It is like Steve Austin winning the title, then two weeks later having a random match with Gangrel for 20 minutes.

[@rubenarriaga3029]

Great analogy

[@spidermanthreethousand]

Swerve Strickland is getting buried with this ridiculous storyline. They really dont know what to do with their champions once they have won the title.

[@robertnapier624]

What was the point of making him champion? They should have left the title on Samoa Joe.

[@BBoy4040]

It's like they hate the fact that Swerve got so popular, gave the fans what they wanted, then made him one of those weird midcard champions who look weak until their title defenses.

[@matthewhostetter8974]

Swerve is just the place holder of the the AEW World title, till they put it on OceanSpreay. He's just everyone's bitch, but hey he's the "First Black World Champion in AEW."

[@athanaskozhuharov9700]

@@robertnapier624 Which got me thinking where is Samoa Joe?

[@robertnapier624]

@@athanaskozhuharov9700 who knows?

[@xvicious4612]

Tony needs to realise that NOT EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE ON PAR WITH EACH OTHER! For fuck sake! To use comic book analogies; not every fight needs to be Invincible vs Conquest, not every street level hero needs to be on par with Captain America or The Hulk, you don't need to have The Punisher hold his own in a fistfight with Spider-Man, because they aren't on the same fucking level! And you don't need under and mid card guys being competitive with your champion, because it doesn't make the under and mid card guys look strong, it makes the champion look weak, and Tony seems to think the opposite is the truth

[@jinmochizuki]

I like the immortal

[@polsdofer]

Unfortunately, Tony really wants to see Thor vs. Hulk every match, though. He only cares about having GREAT matches and what people at cagematch think.

[@BamJones-lw2uj]

Yo stop spoiling invincible

[@athanaskozhuharov9700]

Remember that one time Hulk Hogan struggled for 30 minutes in a match with Rey Mysterio?

[@aliciasimmons8473]

I'm not into comics but a great analogy I really wish Tony would let someone else book

[@michaellee8816]

What happens next - Swerve gets beat up by Nana?

[@danehockam-dunn8193]

Swerve gets beat up by Ralphus, I think?

[@michaellee8816]

@@danehockam-dunn8193 After a 20 minute match with Gillberg

[@xvicious4612]

Guarantee that's gonna happen sooner or later

[@BadLion12k]

15 minutes Meltzer gives it 9 and half stars

[@michaellee8816]

@@BadLion12k Imagine how much Alvarez will scream at him for that one....

[@virgilhawkins7368]

AEW's first black champion, ladies and gentlemen.

[@matthewhostetter8974]

Tony did it to flaunt the title, now Swerve is just everyone's bitch.

[@oneyewitness3823]

Who cares?

[@timmyp38]

Swerve is mid-card at best, he has no business holding a "world title"

[@josephkachocki2522]

​​@@timmyp38he needed to be built up. Same with Hangman page. Tony has no clue what hes doing

[@nickalvarez8716]

@@timmyp38 Damian Priest pretty much

[@mattmarshall569]

It's sad when a promotion like AEW views another promotion's world title as more prestigious than their own.

[@crooklyn74]

Swerve's run is making Rey Mysterio's world title run look dominant.

[@DynastyIcon]

they did Rey dirty 💯 but at least he lost to John Cena, Swerve is getting his a** whooped by Christian and a bunch of no names

[@classicMrE]

Swerve was never going to be showcased ahead of the clown bucks or jeribloat. In that company Moxley with the Japanese belt is more important than Swerve. It wouldn't surprise me if TK's super pockets beats Swerve for the AEW title there's no common sense or logic to Khan's thinking

[@MADGUNSMONSTER]

In 2024, President Cornette Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, which granted freedom to the AEW slaves. Ricky Starks, Kris Statlander, Hobbs, Wardlow, and MJF were extremely grateful.

[@HotRodM4]

😂

[@robmillergaming]

Statlander is SO wasted in this company.

[@aliciasimmons8473]

LMFAO that's awesome! They need it

[@aliciasimmons8473]

Is hayter still hurt

[@MADGUNSMONSTER]

@@aliciasimmons8473 Who knows? Even she's not saying.

[@sillygoober553]

Anyone else notice that Edge and Christian are basically doing the same thing creatively RN Edge got beat down and his wedding ring was stolen by Malarkey Black Christian beat down Swerve and used a “Stolen” picture of his family to taunt him Very creative booking by TK

[@DynastyIcon]

i didn't notice at all, not watching AEW is fantastic

[@Ai14106]

People always stole stuff from Tony when growing up

[@scottwilson3741]

​@@DynastyIconI'm in total agreement

[@carriebrooks2377]

The end with jim singing 😂😂😂😂 love this podcast

[@MiketheratguyMultimedia]

I hate his singing so much.

[@DeuceFly]

Out comes Christian and Nick Plains Mom...the biggest one in the group except for the lizard😂😂😂😂

[@DallasTheGreat28]

Lol. So true. Everyone in AEW is under 6 ft and the ones that are taller are complete goofs

[@Uncledavemeltzer]

Tbf Nick plains mom is big for a woman and she is on heels. She would look like Jade or rhea compared to normal sized women

[@leir2005]

She’s at least 5’8 barefoot, maybe even taller

[@kp-wp8tx]

Brian Cage lost to Tessa Blanchard. What a dork!

[@MoxyOh]

Recently?

[@kp-wp8tx]

About 5 years ago in Impact.

[@Cruising_On_Lake_Havasoma]

@@MoxyOh 3 years ago, I think? She beat him for the TNA world title.

[@MoxyOh]

@@Cruising_On_Lake_Havasoma oh! For some reason I thought that was Sammi Callihan.

[@vb2806]

Hey Tessa is bigger and tougher than most of their men's roster

[@KamoMustafaWWE]

AEW: Where the big boys lose.

[@hgriff14]

the long competitive matches are why i dont take moxleys death jitsu gimmick seriously. ive seen professional ju jitsu matches, most of them are over in two minutes and the winner doesnt look like he ran into the comanches when he is done.

[@bradleyminoski2020]

You know that’s complete horseshit, right?

[@patshaf902]

Ralphus would beat the shit out of the Buckaroos and Perry

[@jabrockobiden9434]

Cage lost to a girl

[@frankejk]

when? what did i miss

[@quentinkaasa47]

When Tessa beat him and became Impact "World" champion.

[@frankejk]

@@quentinkaasa47 right i remember that. i mustve had a brain lag when i commented this because i assumed the guy was talking about christian cage not brian cage lol

[@frankE91210]

This is WCW 2000

[@kevinsteele8771]

They keep it up it will be wcw 2001..... Nonexistent

[@theelectricprince8231]

Swerve is Booker T. It's weird that they are both black

[@MichaeuxErvin]

They are 5 years old them them grow

[@thesupervisor3270]

WCW 2000 had 10x more ppl watching and guys that actually looked like wrestlers. Don’t compare

[@michaeladkins2511]

It’s getting there

[@charlessmith7816]

YESSS I've been waiting for this one 😂😂😂IDK whats worse, AEW purposely burying their champ week after week or the fact that their idiotic fans think its somehow a good thing and that he's being booked great

[@danehockam-dunn8193]

Hey, at least he's not leaving the World Title in the locker room because the ROH Tag Titles are more important to him? That's progress from AEW.....

[@BlackieMike14]

Who drew more though 😂😂😂 man's barely pulling 650 in viewership but I digress

[@MrMTGPsycho]

They put the belt on him because that's what fans wanted. They were angry they had to cave to fans for this and are punishing the fans by beating down the champion every week. What they haven't realized yet, that makes the championship not the champion look weak.

[@romelmunoz7957]

But that's an old Vince McMahon behavior 😮

[@Luke.S2099]

It was crazy seeing the blood pissing out of Swerve's head.But yeah dude is getting hilariously destroyed as a champion. Would be funny if he lost to Christian at the ppv.

[@CornBreadtm1]

Might as well. Spare us the continuation of this run. Better off losing the title than having his whole career shredded for being champion when the booker never wanted you. Christian can lose to Ospreay just as easily...

[@jilujoilujiut2165]

Christian should be the champion . Dude is actually entertaining

[@patrickboian8545]

So Im confused. If the embassy attacked Swerve, does that mean Nana is not his friend anymore? Swerve needs Nana imo.

[@markbonin4158]

Everyone is confused with this program

[@travisboyle285]

Nana helped Swerve this week.

[@patrickboian8545]

@@travisboyle285 ok good I was worried.

[@robertnapier624]

Is swerve the black Jon Moxley with how much he bleeds?

[@brandonthompson3769]

It’s like tony booked this reign with a randomizer

[@robertnapier624]

He pressed random on a video game controller for each wrestler.

[@crooklyn74]

CM Punk is the real AEW World Champion.

[@WyattHolliday]

Ralphus was more over than most of the AEW roster.

[@johnjones8888]

Here come the AEW marks with "i was there! It was the biggest and loudest crowd ever!"

[@presoneal2720]

Are they forgetting NaNa was attacked by Christens team as well? He is selling the injury

[@jovanss2361]

6:25, EXACTLY. With every minute it goes longer than it should, we as the viewer get more and more irritated

[@nathankennedy2742]

They absolutely will not be able to resist turning Nana against Swerve. It will get a smattering of boos for 37 seconds and Excalibur will fly into the next segment.

[@paulc1553]

Samoa Joe should still be AEW World Champion.

[@BenjiXAddictX4Ever]

An AEW fan actually told me that he did his job as Transitional Champion. LOL

[@gobblegobble7]

I agree

[@robertnapier624]

Indeed. What was the point of him dropping the strap to swerve?

[@evanrichter3893]

@@BenjiXAddictX4Everomg r u serious

[@billlee6424]

He needs to be the face of AEW so they have time to build other talent and just let Joe do what Joe does best for a while.

[@benespinosa6725]

how can tony khan fuck this up already after building up swerve this shit was ridiculous.

[@theelectricprince8231]

Swerve built himself up

[@benespinosa6725]

​@@theelectricprince8231good point also why does Christian Cage get a title shot after losing the TNT title to adam copeland what's the point of the ranking system I guess that doesn't matter to tony just get rid of it.

[@BSultimate]

He never intended for Swerve to get over

[@benespinosa6725]

​@@BSultimateif you're name isn't the young bucks or their friends you can't get over.

[@theelectricprince8231]

@@benespinosa6725 it's how they do it normally. If you have received dominant reign with the Midcard belt, you are usually in line to be world champion.

[@stevecrawford5619]

The most amazing thing is there are guys from Cornettes era who sit by collect a check and let this shit go out on television. Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Jake Roberts, Jeff Jarrett all who have great wrestling minds and Tony Khan has full access too, and they all just except this as the best they can do. I will never understand having all these great wrestling minds at your access and not utilizing them.

[@BadLion12k]

Maybe Bill Alfonso not Ralphus 😂

[@xymoriintus]

9:23 There Was a Time is one of my favorite songs 😂

[@JaculaDudek]

Tony is punishing Swerve for getting over on his own , he Has to be

[@DynastyIcon]

or he's just an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing or how to book 🤷‍♂️ it's not about ppl getting themselves over, the idiot doesn't know how to capitalize on ppl getting themselves over

[@vibezforall99]

shoutout to the spiral staircase at the end 😂😂😂🎶

[@manuelchavarria]

WWF tried turning Finkel into a Ralphus analog for a bit. Then they gave Jericho Curtis Hughes for approximately 8 minutes.

[@The765Das]

it only gets better from here

[@ApocalypticRenegade]

Swerve getting the full Mysterio or Benoit as champions treatment, booked like an afterthought or to look like a complete loser. What a booking strategy.

[@quentinkaasa47]

Nah, Triple H continued putting Benoit over after WrestleMania. And Rey at least got two clean wins over JBL.

[@MichaelSpikes-pv6kl]

Excellent video

[@kevinnash8897]

I been saying this putting the world championship on swerve was a bad idea the man isn’t a draw

[@timmyp38]

I agree my man, he's mid-card at best

[@EddieTheGentleman]

Should've just left the belt on Joe... WTF are they doing with/to Swerve???

[@joenelsaracho4836]

So mox iwgp title is the main belt in aew?? How can that happen?

[@Uncledavemeltzer]

The TBS title is the main belt now IWGP belt is the second best. Everything else is irrelevant

[@patrickboian8545]

Man I liked Cage a lot in Lucha Underground but ever since then he ain't it.

[@ernestcruz6316]

Props to the late Pat Upton of The Spiral Starecase. Hey Pat, Jim parodied your song!

[@greghuffman3061]

"if you guys beat me down about 12 or 13 more times,im not gonna stand for it" - swerve strickland

[@xhaos3522]

Competitive job matches. Well put.

[@brandonluu6665]

Nana is in booking purgatory with Ricky Starks and every wrestler who hasn't been on tv for ages.

[@Rungusman69]

Jim’s love for Prince nana is so endearing

[@DynastyIcon]

everyone loves Nana 💯 he was awesome in ROH back in the day.. giving Nana a live mic is never a bad thing 😂 dude is hilarious

[@davidratty2242]

How did they get the family photo?

[@TheGoodReverendSatan]

Swerve said at the scrum tony gifted him the belt because he gave tk a pair of shoes

[@registereduser]

6:25 This sums it up almost exactly.

[@MiketheratguyMultimedia]

That pig looks so happy.

[@davidgregory2434]

Swerve should be in 5 minute matches DOMINATING. Then 15+ on PPV. The world heavyweight champion is supposed to be showcased as the absolute best at the company not even par with mid card guys

[@captainchaos8921]

RIP Ralphus ...Jericho Personal Security

[@greghuffman3061]

"they werent waving their hands in the air like they just don't care" they just dont care enough to

[@capquack]

Who's house??? The rusty fishing knife's house!!😂

[@vincesmith2499]

Is Brian Cage related to Christian Cage?

[@councilbaker7972]

Hehe.... Dick Trickle..... I wonder if Corny knows that there actually was a NASCAR driver named Dick Trickle....

[@jaxonjaxoff3291]

Never thought I’d hear a reference to the great Dick Trickle

[@natemachado9113]

The only thing I can think of as to why they are pounding on Strickland so severely here, is to set it up like he has huge obstacles to overcome now that he has the title. But physically leaving him in the ring consecutive weeks like that does not help. Sure you can do it leading up to the PPV with whomever his opponent going to be, but you have to give the champion his due within the storyline. Again its like they start at point A and jump to point D without crafting the necessary points B and C along the way. Slow it down a bit.

[@aceldamia9114]

Ralphus was pretty amazing.

[@randolphdefreese7874]

The didnt wave their hands like they just dont care...............they just dont care.

[@AWX_Wrestling]

Nana, Nana! Nana, Nana! Hey! Hey! Hey! Good bye!

[@BiggaLeek]

Damn I remember when D.O.N was kind of a big PPV. I forgot it was even coming up

[@wilcee238]

Nana Nana Nana Nana Batman! I mean Leader!

[@BadLion12k]

FISHING

[@wilcee238]

@BadLion12k I like to do that by putting my hand into a wide hole. On that note, how’s your mom?

[@EwanCumia]

AEW is worse than gruel.

[@Ai14106]

The new Bishop of Talentbury Tony Khan

[@wwedbzguy]

I bet Moxley was licking his lips seeing Swerve bleed.

[@drakependragon8439]

Cage SHOULD have won he is huge he dwarfs Swerve. Then it would give a good story for when Cage gets a title shot Swerve learning a new move or trick to get a lucky win over a guy who beat him

[@jaritime1406]

Nana should be with Swerve Heel or Face when Heel can have a group when Face just Swerve

[@jxw457]

Man, I feel for Swerve.

[@jerisergedunphy]

Good day,folks!

[@AFCole-uu3rv]

This booking has taken a great big drizzling Vince all over Swerve.

[@anthony_42081]

all this just for swerve to still somehow beat christian by “making a comeback” at the end of the match

[@mattlevesque9393]

The end of this clip is the first time in a long time I have popped for Corny singing. I don’t watch AEW anymore but I hate hearing this for swerve. Maybe this is supposed to be like the beatings Hogan took leading up to Mania 3 vs Andre?

[@jason666king]

MJF on the shelf. No more Punk. And all the real talent sabotaged. FTR, Hobbs, Starks, Miro, Big Bill, and now Swerve.

[@jarretc110]

i think the issue is that either the boys think they can get everyone over by trying to show that everyone is competitive, or tony doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by booking them to be squashed. either way, no one ever looks dominant and that's why it feels like aew is a company of midcard talent.

[@joemixon1704]

Ralphus was over dammit

[@Random_ideit]

Corny sounds heartbroken about nana being missing 😥

[@MGBillionaire]

Corny is about trend on Twitter again

[@veegob5287]

I miss Ralphus. 😂

[@BryanSem-wb7qp]

I remember checking out one of these videos on the AEW channel of a Swerve beat down and the die-hards were saying that this booking is amazing story telling saying that Swerve is the ultimate underdog taking these beat downs before he can make a comeback and beat everyone...

[@DynastyIcon]

you lost me when you said you went to their KZbin channel

[@BryanSem-wb7qp]

@@DynastyIcon I wanted to check one of the beatdowns Jim and Brian were talking about and see the comments and was like "they don't recognize the crap going on?"

[@capquack]

I hate to see how bad they're gonna f*ck Swerve tonight on dynamite.... Poor bastard isn't gonna recover from this if it continues.

[@KristopherFields05]

Dave gave this match 4 stars.

[@romegrey2600]

At this point the only thing left is Milf Wayne to leave Swerve laying because Swerves just become an embarrassment

[@steves2241]

Tony Khan has no idea what he is doing, and his booking of the champions he has is maybe worse than the other wrestlers he is booking for. I get the feeling Tony Khan does not have a clue what to do with Swerve.

[@registereduser]

Since I’ve started watching AEW it’s almost like you DON’T want your favorite winning the World Title.

[@RedDawnRocker]

In answer to Nana, I wouldn't be surprised to see him gone. Since the new office guys came in more and more AEW tv talent has been "disappearing" only to resurface and announce that they were quietly cut. Just this week, Ethan Page and the Bunny announced their contract not being picked up. Word going round is that Danhausen may have been let go (due to his support of Punk ... Danhausen pretty much said it himself in recent off-show comments in interviews) , Mike Santana and Ryan Nemeth just showed in Impact and the attacks on the Mogul Embassy by Swerve seemed to be a write-off on all the group members.

[@BrotherNero777]

They are doing my guy Swerve dirty, what the hell is going on smh

[@mikewitt8491]

I've seen better booked elementary school concerts. Best comedy program on TV.

[@insupportofjunhado]

Prince Nana is from Ghana, but I wish he was from Guyana in this instance, so I could tell the obvious joke.

[@joshhardy2860]

Poor guy is just booker t wcw 2000/2001

[@user-bd8dk1tu5i]

WWE will do this storyline here soon when Roman comes back to save his wiseman Heyman when the Bloodline turn on him. Only that version will actually be good

[@markramiro4354]

They want swerve to go through hardship and persevere. But they do not give more chances for swerve to fight back. But the family picture is bringing this feud in the right direction.

[@vortex_1336]

That's not appropriate for his character. He should be booked like a Stone Cold where he always gets the upper hand on the villains and rarely loses.

[@johneschen308]

Tony has done Swerve so wrong

[@imfreviews]

"Long squash matches". Thank you Brian for putting into words what I have felt but couldn't figure out. That's what bugs me about a lot of AEW. So much time and effort spent for small predictable payoffs.