Since his arrival in AEW in 2022, Swerve Strickland has grown steadily up the ranks in the company, and the former WWE star has reflected on his journey so far. In a recent appearance on the “The State of Florida Sports Podcast,” Strickland has assessed his stint with AEW so far.
“The last couple of years have been absolutely an upward trajectory,” said the former AEW World Tag Team Champion. “That’s kind of what I challenge myself [on] based off of somebody or just having a match that just tops everything that I’ve done the year before.”
Strickland named his two matches with Adam Page, facing Bryan Danielson in a #1 Contender TNT Championship match, and going one-on-one with Jon Moxley as amongst the most notable matches he took part in over the past year. Topping the list was the coffin match where he and Christian Cage came up short against Sting and Darby Allin at All In.
“Doing it at Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 people with legends, true legends of the business, was something I never envisioned myself to do,” Strickland said. “But I kind of don’t go out and try to make goals because those things just naturally happen because I just put myself in the right positions to be able to do that kind of thing and just stay working hard and stay consistent.”
In looking ahead to 2024, Strickland stated that he wants to work towards capturing the AEW World Championship. “It sounds so far-fetched, but maybe I could possibly be the youngest African American World Champion in the history of the business on this biggest stage. That’s a lot to ask for and that’s a lot to work for, and that’s how important that is.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The State of Florida Sports Podcast” with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
