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AEW star Swerve Strickland recently talked about when All Elite President Tony Khan started to invest in him. One year after becoming All Elite, the former was presented as a main eventer.
The former AEW World Champion has climbed his way to the top from late 2023. He signed with the Jacksonville-based promotion in 2022 after leaving WWE in 2021 following a mediocre run. He started from the very bottom of the card. The star put on great matches after aligning himself with Keith Lee. However, he was involved in a huge feud with Hangman Page, which helped both stars, and they became one of the top rivals in AEW.
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At Dynasty pay-per-view this year, Strickland became the AEW World Champion by defeating Samoa Joe and certified himself as the main event star. He then wrestled Will Ospreay, Kyle Fletcher, and Claudio Castagnoli before losing the title to Bryan Danielson at All In London.
On the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, Swerve Strickland explained that Tony Khan started to trust him after his performance at the 2023 Double or Nothing's Battle Royal, where he was a runner-up. He said that Tony was really impressed by his interaction with Orange Cassidy, who won the contest.
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"Man, I would say if I had to guess one, a lot of people like to pinpoint it in one area but I would say the Battle Royal at Double or Nothing [2023]. If it doesn't come down to me and Orange Cassidy, I don't spark the thing with Tony [Khan] being like, 'He made this really amazing. Let's do it again,'" he said. [H/T - Wrestling Inc.]
Swerve Strickland is set to face Shelton Benjamin at Fright Night Dynamite
MVP has been approaching the Realest star for weeks now to convince him to join his management. However, Swerve rejected the offer as he was happy under Prince Nana's watch and considered the latter his family.
After being fed up with the callouts, Swerve Strickland challenged MVP's associate Shelton Benjamin. The duo is now slated to wrestle at Fright Night Dynamite, which will be held on October 30.
Only time will tell who will win the contest and emerge victorious in this cold war.
