Swerve Strickland Says Will Washington Sticks Up For Him As A Talent, ‘I Still Have To Perform’
Swerve Strickland talks Will Washington in AEW.
Back in May 2023, former Fightful personality Will Washington joined the ranks of All Elite Wrestling, as he was named as a Wrestling Administration Coordinator for the promotion. After he joined the company, a vast majority of the wrestling community found out that Washington is the cousin of Swerve Strickland, a top wrestler in AEW.
Strickland recently sat down with Fightful for a new interview. In the chat, Strickland detailed how Washington is able to put story plans together for him because he knows of his capabilities.
“Best thing about it, he knows my capabilities, too. So he can put stuff together that he knows I can [do]. He’s like, ‘No, Swerve is capable of this, give him that.’ To go in a room and to be, ‘This is what we have,’ and at this point I have a good enough relationship with Tony Khan that he knows where my abilities lie. But also you want to make sure you reassure him and you want to reassure the other talent that, ‘Yeah, this guy is capable of this. He can do this. He’s willing to do this,’ and I don’t have to go in there and show face all the time to defend that. ‘Cause I need to just focus on my work, my job and my body. So I don’t have to go in there and do that. Will sticks up for me as a talent to reassure that, ‘Yes, he’s comfortable with this and, yes, he can go above and beyond and deliver this. What you’re asking for as a promoter, as a booker, as a boss, he is capable of this and he wants to do this.’ So that helps so much.”
Strickland followed that up by saying he still has to go out there and perform, even if somebody is pushing for him behind closed doors.
“But at the same time, I gotta still go out there and perform. Some people can say like, ‘Oh, they’re getting these opportunities because so-and-so is speaking to so-and-so.’ Everybody in all walks of every type of profession—whether it be professional wrestling, media, sports, whatever—there’s always somebody in the room talking for said talent anywhere you go. In the NBA, there’s somebody talking to the owner about the talent to reassure that this guy is the guy that we need to put on the banner, on the wall, on the side of a bus in the city, on a shaving commercial or anything like that. So don’t try to misconstrue, ‘Oh, this is pro wrestling politics.’ No, this is business politics. But guess what? Dak Prescott can be in whatever mattress commercial, he still has to go out there and throw touchdowns and get the teams to the playoffs. That’s why these guys get these positions. Like I said, I go on anywhere platform anywhere, I’ll say, ‘I want to be the Pat Mahomes of AEW.’ Hence Dynasty is coming up. That’s what I want to be. I want to be the dynasty player. I want to be the guy that’s the quarterback. Throw me in, I’ll throw a touchdown. Now we’re adding an Okada in there, an Ospreay coming in. Like, yeah, these are the teammates I want to have on the field with me. These are guys I want to build a dynasty with. That’s the team. It’s not like me being on the top, being an individual talent. No, I want my team with me. I just want to quarterback that team. Right now Joe’s playing quarterback. But I’m coming up close to, ‘Hey, I’m Willie Beamen, bro.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Strickland talked about his hit theme song, ‘Big Pressure’. Fans can learn more here.
Fans can check out Fightful’s full interview with Swerve Strickland in the video linked at the top of this article.
