Swerve Strickland: My First Three Months In AEW Made Me Forget About My Three Years In WWE

Swerve Strickland talks about his time in AEW.

Following his release from WWE in late 2021, Swerve Strickland officially inked a deal with All Elite Wrestling at the Revolution pay-per-view earlier this year. Strickland immediately found success, forming a duo with Keith Lee and going on to win the AEW World Tag Team Championships in July.

In the past, Strickland has commented about his displeasure with his time in WWE. In a new interview with Renee Paquette, Strickland discussed how he made an effort to be a bigger deal within the ranks of AEW.

“I took a trip to LA [because] I couldn’t go in as just me the wrestler, I gotta come in with a whole bunch of assets that I can attribute to any product that I’m gonna go to. So I just went to LA for two weeks and I met some people in entertainment, met some producers, literally I built a team over there that supported me and my podcast and my music and these other things. When I got signed, it was like ‘Oh, by the way I don’t wanna get a music entrance song just applied to me, I have music already and this guy that did it, he won two Grammys.’ He’s like ‘Oh okay, let’s use that. Okay, cool.’ So now that set me apart, then it was like well I’m doing this and I’m making appearances, I’m going to the Grammys, I’m going to this and that. Then I’m like ‘Oh by the way I have Kevin Gates, we can bring him in’. So like right away, I’m just… my first three months in AEW made me completely forget about my last three years in WWE. I put all of that focus and energy and that resentment into building something. Now [I’ve been here] seven months and I truly believe without a shadow of a doubt that I’m the best acquisition of 2022 in any company. I’ve been consistent, you don’t just see me in a wrestling ring. You see me every which way, if there’s a camera I’m going to be in it. If there’s an interview, I’m gonna be in front of it. If there’s a song, I’m gonna be rapping on it. If there’s a artist, I’m gonna be here. I want to be everywhere. These appointments turn into bigger successes later on for me.”

In the past, Strickland has commented about Kevin Gates’ AEW appearance came about. To read more, click here.

Strickland and Keith Lee are set to defend their AEW World Tag Team Championships at Dynamite: Grand Slam this Wednesday. To see other matches set for Dynamite, click here.

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