AEW star Swerve Strickland recently opened up about the behind-the-scenes events that led to his group, Hit Row being released from WWE in 2021.
Hit Row, a rap-inspired group featuring Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Top Dolla, Ashante “Thee” Adonis, and Brianna “B-Fab” Brandy. They debuted on NXT in May 2021 and were later drafted to SmackDown in November. Despite the momentum they were building, the group was released in November.
Swerve Strickland went into detail about the backstage tensions and actions that led to the group being fired. Strickland believes the group was released partly due to a contract dispute with Brianna “B-Fab” Brandy, which led to confusion over her travel arrangements.
Swerve Strickland on How Vince McMahon’s Anger Led to Hit Row’s WWE Release
In an interview with VladTV on X, Strickland revealed that after Hit Row was drafted to SmackDown, there was “a contract dispute with the girl of the group.” Then, B-Fab’s travel details just disappeared. “As soon as we got drafted, the following week, we did a promo, and then she wasn’t getting flight information to be at SmackDown. It just kind of disappeared.”
This was the start of the problems. This issue, Swerve Strickland believes, may have contributed to WWE releasing multiple talents, including his then-girlfriend. But the biggest reason for the group being released was an altercation with WWE management. Strickland said one of the group members made an aggressive phone call to the WWE office, demanding to know B-Fab’s travel plans.
“Then we meet with Vince [McMahon], he said. “Apparently, one of the members of the group was just, they complained at the office because he was calling, asking her for her flight. He started getting aggressive on the phone, apparently at Titan Towers.”
This made Vince McMahon angry, and he confronted the group, telling them, “First off, that’s none of your business. You’re a talent, you do this. You worry about what you do. That’s what we do here. That’s a respect thing.”
Swerve Strickland believes the internal heat caused by this incident and a series of backstage tensions led to their release..
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