Swerve Strickland reflects on competing against 'one of the most competitive rosters' in wrestling

AEW's Swerve Strickland is currently regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the world. The former WWE Superstar recently reflected on his time in a unique promotion from back in the day.

Between 2014 and 2018, The New Flavor competed extensively in Lucha Underground, a wrestling promotion that produced shows featuring a colorful and diverse cast of characters, participating in intriguing and fantastical storylines, which gave shape to the fictional world developed by the company.

In a recent interview with No-Contest Wrestling, Swerve Strickland discussed his tenure in Lucha Underground, comparing the promotion to AEW with respect to how both companies have employed competent and ambitious in-ring talent from across the globe.

"It was a challenge," Strickland said. "That's one of the most competitive rosters that you'll ever see in wrestling, and AEW is like that too in a lot of senses. But Lucha Underground was just filled with like the premier athletes from Mexico, from America, from Canada, from the UK, everybody was coming in, in a melting pot and we were trying to figure out 'What can we create?' Because now, the universe is endless."

Strickland also talked about having to figure out his own USP as a performer in LU in relation to his uber-athletic peers, bringing up current AEW stars Angelico, Johnny TV, Ricochet (then known as Prince Puma), and Rey Fenix.

"I'm not a luchador, because I can't lucha as good as Aerostar, I can't lucha as good as Fenix. I'm not going to, there's no way, I'm not going to out-lucha those guys. I can't flash as good as John Morrison or Johnny Mundo at the time, I can't fly higher than [Prince] Puma, I can't jump further than Angelico... How do I fit into this?" [H/T - WrestlingInc.]

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Swerve Strickland is set for a huge match on Fright Night AEW Dynamite

At WrestleDream 2024 earlier this month, MVP and Shelton Benjamin interrupted Swerve Strickland's return promo and invited the former AEW World Champion to join forces with them. The latter, however, refused, which sparked off a shoving match between him and Benjamin.

After The Gold Standard's successful AEW in-ring debut against Lio Rush, MVP sent a warning to the Washington native, advising him to reevaluate his decision. Swerve continued to defy The Hurt Syndicate members, daring Benjamin to step up to him in the squared circle, leading to a match between the two men being announced for Fright Night Dynamite on October 30.

It remains to be seen whether Swerve Strickland will be able to beat The Standard of Excellence in their first All Elite meeting.