Former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland quickly established himself as one of the top stars in the All Elite promotion. Before joining Tony Khan's company, Swerve spent a few years with WWE, but was never given a real chance on the main roster as he was released just a month after being called up to SmackDown from NXT. However, he still keeps a tab on the happenings in the Stamford-based promotion and recently sent a one-word message to a popular, up-and-coming WWE star. NXT superstar Je'Von Evans made a surprise appearance on SmackDown tonight, answering Sami Zayn's US Championship open challenge. The 21-year-old wasn't able to win the belt but put on a fantastic display, earning the respect of the champion and the crowd. Strickland had earlier revealed that he would always root for Evans, who got into the business after being inspired by the former AEW Champion. He let Evans know that he was rooting for him with a simple message on Twitter [X].Swerve Strickland's reported return scheduled for next yearSwerve Strickland has been off television since his match with Kazuchike Okada at Forbidden Door 2025. He is currently nursing a torn meniscus that he's been dealing with since 2019. He underwent surgery to heal it, and Dave Meltzer reveals that the former AEW World Champion would not return to the company this year. "Swerve will be back by January. Omega will be back before January, Will won't be, but the other ones will," he said. [H/T - Wrestling INC.]The 34-year-old had challenged the AEW Unified Champion, Okada, for his title but proved to be unsuccessful in his attempt at Forbidden Door. He would then be assaulted by Okada after the match, who targeted his knee, writing him off television so that he could get some needed rest to recover from his injury.