Tony Khan confident former WWE champion will be back in AEW sooner rather than later

AEW President Tony Khan gave a positive update on a former WWE star. The Jacksonville-based promotion has seen multiple names take a hiatus due to injuries. Absent stars like Wardlow, Will Ospreay, Adam Cole, and Buddy Matthews have majorly affected the company. Another major star who has been away for the past few months is former NXT North American Champion Swerve Strickland.

The Realest never really recovered from an old injury that occurred during his WWE stint. He tore his meniscus six years ago. He needed surgery for the injury; therefore, he has been absent since August. He was written off at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view, where the returning Wardlow ambushed him after a match against Kazuchika Okada for the Unified Championship.

While speaking on the WrestleDream media call, Tony Khan answered a question from Fightful regarding Swerve Strickland's recovery. The AEW President said that the former World Champion was recovering better than expected and would be back very soon.

"With Swerve [Strickland], it’s a shorter timetable. I can’t say exactly when because I’m not a doctor and I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but based on the conversations I’ve had, even today, I think he’s on a good pace and Swerve [will be back]osooner rather than later," Khan said. [H/T - Newsweek]

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Swerve Strickland talks about the top guns of AEW

Within a decade of establishment, AEW has become one of the top wrestling companies in the industry. This wasn't possible without certain stars, and Swerve Strickland mentioned some of those names.

Speaking to Cameron Hawkins on yahoo! Sports, the Realest said that he, MJF, Will Ospreay, and Hangman Page were the names that had defined this generation.

“Ospreay, Hangman, myself, MJF included. We are the definitions of this era and generation. We take pride in that work,” Strickland said.

It remains to be seen when Swerve Strickland will return to the company.