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Swerve Strickland is undoubtedly one of AEW's most popular stars currently. A former World Champion from the Tony Khan-led company recently voiced high praise for The New Flavor, the latter being none other than Kenny Omega.
The Best Bout Machine has been out of the squared circle since December 2023 and has been recovering from a severe case of diverticulitis. While viewers of All Elite Wrestling have been clamoring for Omega's return, other major names have emerged as top talent in his absence, leading the way in terms of storyline work and match quality - especially Swerve Strickland.
During a recent interview with Sean Ross Sapp, Kenny Omega spoke about how Strickland has always given his utmost to whichever program he has been involved in, even when his role was akin to an enhancement talent.
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"And, I remember, he may not even remember, but I remember that in moments when Swerve would be involved in something that maybe.. something that placed him in more of an enhancement role, he would do such an incredible job with it, not only elevate his opponent but the quality of the match and himself in the process..," said Omega. [42:41 - 43:07]
The Cleaner complimented The Realest for his wrestling acumen and acknowledged his recent ascent in AEW.
"Not that it was my job I just felt like as a wrestler, as someone who still enjoys watching good wrestling... I felt like, I gotta reach out to this guy, I have to let him know he's doing an incredible job, I just hope he doesn't get discouraged. Because eventually someone's gonna see how good and how giving and how cognizant he is of everything around him as regards to current day wrestling. And lo and behold, months later.. whatever it was, he found the secret, and he just used that as a springboard to launch himself into the stratosphere. And he went from wherever he was at to now being undeniably one of our greatest performers in AEW." [43:11 - 44:00]
Swerve Strickland was brutalized on Dynamite ahead of AEW Full Gear bout
While Kenny Omega is preparing for his comeback in NJPW, Swerve Strickland has found himself in the crosshairs of The Hurt Syndicate. The former AEW World Champion was ambushed by Bobby Lashley following the latter's debut at Fright Night Dynamite, which led to the Washington native challenging The All Mighty to a match at Full Gear 2024.
This week on Dynamite, Swerve defeated Lio Rush one-on-one and called out Lashley for a confrontation. The latter seemingly obliged, only to ambush Strickland alongside Shelton Benjamin and MVP, supposedly teaching him a lesson on the merits of strength in numbers.
Please credit Kenny Omega's interview with Sean Ross Sapp and add H/T to Sportskeeda for using quotes from this article.
