Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott Reflects on His WWE Release

Former NXT North American Champion Isaiah “Swerve” Scott was suddenly released by the WWE alongside the rest of Hit Row back on Nov. 19. The move came as a shock to fans, given the group’s popularity from their time in NXT and the fact that they had just jumped to the SmackDown roster via the WWE Draft. Scott, now going by Shane Strickland against, reflected on his departure during the returning episode of the “Swerve City Podcast.” 

“When the release happened I was upset. It was more of an embarrassment to my family because I felt like I was like, I let them down because I talked up so much about how everything was going to be okay, everything is going to be I’m going to exceed the expectations,” Strickland said (h/t Fightful). “We’re doing something that’s never been done, yadda yadda yadda. It felt like it was like now it was thrown back in my face. But I looked around. It took me a couple of days, two days, I looked around and got on the phone with my mans, talk to my peoples. We talked about all the possibilities that are out there right now. We had a good, long [talk] I spoke with the lady, I spoke with — I’m still trying to tiptoe back into the family. I’m getting better at it. But once again, I look around and I’m appreciative of all that I’ve accomplished. Everything that I’ve done in the WWE, I’m proud of. I was able to — I learned to rap three years ago and I was able to do it on the USA Network, live, with my friends in the audience watching. I was able to do it live. One take like, no cuts, live on the USA Network, in front of hundreds of thousands of people watching at home, in front of my friends and family that were there and live in attendance.

“I was able to pull myself out of obscurity into becoming something that was just like it was needed,” he continued. “It was like wanted, an act, a group that just had to be on the next level, we did that, and we did it in five months of being together and knowing each other. That’s something I can always be proud of and I can leave my mark with it and be proud and move on. Now, my artistic vision is so vast. I’m still trying to find ways to funnel it, but now that I have more opportunities, more time, more opportunities to have the hands off me to let it go, it’s about to get spooky. Spooky season has arrived.”

Prior to joining WWE, Strickland found success on the independent scene while competing in CZW, Lucha Underground (as the masked wrestler Killshot) and MLW. Where do you want to see Strickland wrestle next? Let us know in the comments below!