Swerve Strickland has spoken candidly about the emotional impact of Pac’s passing and the ways members of the AEW locker room have tried to support one another through an exceptionally difficult period.
Grief does not follow a single pattern, particularly in a wrestling environment where performers spend long stretches of time together on the road, build friendships behind the scenes, and share intensely personal professional milestones in front of crowds around the world. For Strickland, one of the clearest lessons from the aftermath of Pac’s death has been the value of speaking openly with trusted people rather than trying to process everything alone.
Strickland, the current AEW World Trios Champion, explained that communication with friends, peers, and people close to him has been central to how he has handled the loss. His comments emphasized private, meaningful conversations rather than public statements or social-media posts.
“How I was dealing with it was just like communicating, not staying quiet about it you know?” Strickland said. “I don’t mean like talking on social media, [I mean] talking with your people, your peers, your friends and everything. Opening up, let them know how you’re feeling about those things, about like what you’re feeling internally you know? Open up, express those things, let it out with your friends.”
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It is a straightforward message, but one that carries particular weight following the loss of a colleague who had shared so many chapters of AEW history with the roster. Pac was not simply another name on a card. His body of work, his connections within the locker room, and his standing as one of the company’s most respected in-ring performers have made his death deeply felt across the promotion.
Strickland revealed that Darby Allin called him to confirm the news of Pac’s passing. In the immediate aftermath, Strickland reached out to Ricochet, a mutual friend of both men, to make sure there was someone with whom he could speak openly. That instinct to call, check in, and make space for honest emotion became part of a broader response throughout the AEW locker room.
“I think that was probably the most important and more powerful thing that us as a locker room in AEW did with one another.”
Communication became a source of support
Professional wrestling can often encourage performers to project toughness. Wrestlers are trained to work through pain, keep their composure under pressure, and deliver even when the physical and emotional demands of the job are immense. But Strickland’s account presents a different kind of strength: allowing trusted friends to see vulnerability and making sure others are not left to carry devastating news by themselves.
His comments also underline the personal nature of grief. There is no suggestion that every person in the locker room experienced Pac’s death in the same way or at the same pace. Instead, Strickland pointed to communication as a shared tool, one that allowed people to acknowledge the pain while remaining connected to those who understood the magnitude of the loss.
AEW paid tribute to Pac during a special episode of AEW Dynamite on September 30. The program honored both his life and career, providing the company, its fans, and Pac’s peers an opportunity to remember a performer whose influence extended well beyond individual matches or championship reigns.
Strickland contributed a personal tribute during the broadcast. He and The New Level also placed their AEW World Trios Championships on the mat with one of Pac’s signature towels over the titles. The image carried added significance because Pac spent more time associated with the trios championships than anyone else in AEW history.
In wrestling, championship belts are often representations of competition, achievement, and status. On that night, the titles became part of a memorial gesture. By laying them down beneath Pac’s towel, Strickland and The New Level connected the present state of the division to the legacy of a wrestler who had helped define what trios competition meant in AEW.
A first look at Pac that never left Strickland
While mourning naturally brings sadness, Strickland also spoke about the importance of revisiting positive memories. Sharing stories can preserve the personality behind the performer and keep a friend’s influence present in the lives of those who knew him. For Strickland, the memory he returns to begins long before the two men became AEW colleagues.
Strickland recalled seeing Pac in 2011 at a Dragon Gate USA doubleheader with CZW at Philadelphia’s ECW Arena. Pac faced Brodie Lee on that show, in a match that made an immediate impression on Strickland. At the time, he did not necessarily view the encounter as formally meeting Pac. He was, instead, struck by what he was watching.
“I wouldn’t even say I met him, I was just like amazed by him,” Strickland said. “2011, it was like the Dragon Gate USA double header with CZW in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, and it was Pac versus Brodie Lee, and it’s so surreal and like almost eerie to know that they’re both not here with us anymore. But that was the first time like I seen like that style of wrestling.”
The recollection is especially poignant because it joins Pac and Brodie Lee in a moment that mattered to Strickland well before all three men became linked through larger stages in wrestling. It was a match that showcased a style Strickland found eye-opening, and it remained vivid enough in his mind that he continued to speak about it years later.
Strickland said he congratulated both Pac and Brodie Lee after the bout. Much later, when he crossed paths with Brodie Lee at the WWE Performance Center, he learned that the match against Pac had been the one that helped lead to Lee signing with WWE. The story gives that 2011 contest another layer of historical importance: it was not only a formative viewing experience for Strickland, but also a significant point in Brodie Lee’s own career path.
For Strickland, the match was a bridge between admiration as a fan and a later friendship as a peer. Once he and Pac were in the same wrestling circles, Strickland made a point of telling him how much that performance had meant.
“I always told Pac about that match. I was like ‘Yo man, that match was like...it blew my mind at the time,’ and he’s like ‘Oh really? Thank you brother, thank you man, appreciate it.’”
A shared final in-ring memory
That exchange captures a side of wrestling relationships that audiences do not always see. A match can change how a younger wrestler views the craft. Years afterward, the person inspired by it may get the chance to tell the performer directly. In this case, Strickland was able to share his appreciation with Pac, giving a lasting personal meaning to a bout that first captivated him in Philadelphia.
Strickland’s final in-ring memory with Pac came much more recently. He said the last time they shared a ring was in the Trios Roulette Royal at AEW All In London 2026. It is a moment he plans to hold close as he continues to reflect on Pac’s life and their overlapping journeys in the sport.
The significance of that memory is not rooted solely in the match itself. It represents the final chapter of a connection that began with Strickland watching Pac from afar, developed through mutual respect as their careers intersected, and continued in AEW as both men added to the company’s history.
Strickland’s reflections offer a deeply human perspective on a loss still being felt throughout AEW. He did not present communication as a cure for grief, nor did he suggest there is an easy way to move forward. Instead, he described the value of calling friends, speaking honestly, listening to others, and allowing meaningful memories to remain part of the healing process.
As AEW continues to honor Pac, Strickland’s words serve as a reminder of the bonds built around wrestling: the matches that inspire future performers, the friendships formed over years of travel and shared work, and the conversations that become indispensable when a locker room is confronted with heartbreak.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.