Swerve Strickland Views Winning AEW World Championship as a Symbol of Diversity

Swerve Strickland quickly rose through the ranks in the wrestling industry with his amazing his in-ring capabilities and has already established himself as one of AEW’s top talents. Strickland recently shared his thoughts on his potential future as the AEW World Champion and what it means to him in terms of representation in the industry.

In an exclusive interview with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, Strickland delved into his recent encounter with Hangman Adam Page at AEW Full Gear. He highlighted the huge emotions that surrounded the historic incident when he dripped blood into Hangman Adam Page’s lips.

“He was so infuriated with rage that he’s going as far as to drink my blood and spit it out in the air because he wants a part of me. He wants me, like, you’re not going to forget this. It’s almost violating another man. Since I violated his home, he’s violating me. I was like, this is a lot of blood. A lot of blood. That’s all I was really thinking about like, this is a whole lot of blood and I still have to run and move and fight and hopefully I can see because I could barely even see because it was just so much. I never bled that much of my life. It is easy to go into shock and like, I have anxiety because you’re not supposed to witness your blood like leaving your body so much. It’s not supposed to fountain out. I was just like, Okay, stay calm. You’re okay. Your breathing is good, you’re not hyperventilating, and you’re not getting lightheaded. You’re good. Then I go outside. Then pile driver on the on this barricades. I was like, Okay, it’s still going, it’s still going, it’s still going. It won’t stop going. So like, water bottle and that coagulated a little bit so that the blood just became sticky. My wrist bands were full white and then by the end of the match, it was red gauntlets because I just kept wiping my face. It was so bad, it got to a point where I just fell down on the mat and I wiped my face off because there was nothing else to wipe my face off of. It was a horrific, beautiful masterpiece.”

Moving on in the conversation, Strickland also talked about on potentially becoming a AEW World Champion in the future. He explained that as concerns regarding diversity and representation gain traction in the wrestling industry, becoming AEW World Champion as an African-American man holds great significance for him.

“There’s been this discussion about diversity in the company and in pro wrestling period all around. Every company, to have an African-American man standing in the middle of that as a main event as champion is, I think that’s huge. and I think that’s my spot in history as well.”

Overall, Strickland’s comments shed light on the ongoing evolution of AEW and the broader wrestling community, highlighting the importance of diverse and inclusive representation in shaping the industry’s legacy. It remains to be seen if Strickland manages to cement his name in AEW’s history and claim the title from Samoa Joe. Stay tuned to Ringside News for more!

Do you think Swerve Strickland will become the new AEW World Champion by defeating Samoa Joe? Let us know in the comments!