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This year has seen the rise of several new stars in AEW, but perhaps none have had a bigger impact than Swerve Strickland. The former AEW World Champion recently opened up on the moment Tony Khan decided to bet on him.
Swerve Strickland joined All Elite Wrestling in March 2022. He was initially placed in the tag team division, where he found success alongside Keith Lee. However, Strickland made it clear that he wanted the company's top spot, and he worked tirelessly to become AEW's first black World Champion.
Strickland's rise has been almost unprecedented, and he's now considered one of the premier stars in the Jacksonville-based promotion. In a recent appearance on the No Contest Wrestling podcast, Swerve revealed that Tony Khan began trusting him after he saved NJPW legend Hiroshi Tanahashi from a potential botch on the June 24, 2023 edition of Collision:
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"Through the office, from talks I heard, it was me and Tanahashi on Collision. It was going into Forbidden Door. He was about to do the High Fly Flow, and he slips off. I run up and start fighting him up there. He knocks me off and gives me the High Fly Flow and wins. That was the moment Tony was like, ‘I can trust him in anything.’ 'I can trust him with anybody and anything.'"
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At that time, All Elite Wrestling was still navigating potential opportunities with its partner promotion, New Japan Pro-Wrestling. With Tanahashi becoming the president of NJPW shortly after, Swerve Strickland believes that match might have cemented him as a reliable top star in Tony Khan's eyes.
"That might be what saved the New Japan relationship with AEW. He became President soon after that. He gets hurt, that goes away. After that, I started wrestling veterans. RVD, Jeff Hardy, Billy Gunn, Sting. ‘Swerve can make it work.’ Bring on the task, please," he added. [H/T Fightful]
You can check out his comments in the video below:
Swerve Strickland is now embroiled in a rivalry with AEW's newest signings
Former WWE Superstars MVP and Shelton Benjamin recently made their AEW debuts, and they went straight for Swerve Strickland. MVP has been working to recruit new clients as he builds his Hurt Syndicate in the Jacksonville-based promotion.
The new signees confronted Prince Nana in the lead-up to WrestleDream and made it clear that they intended to steal Swerve away from the veteran manager. But Strickland turned them down at the pay-per-view, setting the stage for a tense rivalry.
MVP has indicated that if Swerve isn't with them, then he's against them. The former AEW World Champion responded to this ultimatum on the most recent episode of Dynamite, claiming that he would be ready to take on whoever The Hurt Syndicate sends at him.
Many fans are still waiting for the debut of Bobby Lashley, who is expected to join MVP and Shelton Benjamin. Whether Swerve Strickland will be able to hold off the dangerous new faction by himself remains to be seen.
