Swerve Strickland wants to create something entirely new with Mogul Affiliates.
Strickland unveiled the group on the December 21 episode of AEW Dynamite, as Parker Boudreaux and a mystery man (who was recently named Trench) attacked his former tag team partner, Keith Lee. Rick Ross is also aligned with the stable, which has remained featured on AEW programming. Boudreaux and Trench recently helped Strickland beat Brian Pillman Jr. on the February 3 episode of AEW Rampage.
Speaking on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Strickland was asked whether he feels any pressure to take Boudreaux under his wing and help wash off the way he has been compared to Brock Lesnar. Strickland noted that he puts that pressure on himself, and he addressed some critics’ doubts about the group. He stated that some fans wanted to see him form a high-flying group that could mix it up in the trios division, but he went in the opposite direction. In doing so, Strickland stated that he’s trying to give the fans something they didn’t know they wanted.
“There’s a lot of pressure on me as far as that, but I put that pressure upon myself,” Strickland said. “There’s a lot of people in the fan base that’s kind of doubting that because I feel like the conditioning is to doubt what’s new. What’s new, what they’re uncomfortable with, what they’re not used to, they doubt it right away. Thats the adversity that we go through. Honestly, that’s the weight that we bear as entertainers, as artists, performers.
“You wanna give fans something that hasn’t necessarily been done, or it’s just so against the fanbase. I kept listening and seeing on social media that, ‘Oh, we wanted you to have two other high-flyer wrestlers. We wanted you to have a trio to go against Kenny Omega and the Bucks, and the trios guys like Top Flight, we wanted that.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s what you wanted? I’m not gonna give you that then.’ I’m gonna take these guys and make something that you didn’t know was what you wanted.’ That’s gonna take time to do.”
As for Boudreaux, Strickland stated that he does want to wipe the Lesnar comparisons away. He made it clear that he doesn’t want Boudreaux to be compared to anyone. Strickland also pointed out that Trench is unique, and he’s determined to help people see a different side of Boudreaux.
“With Parker, [I want to] kinda slowly wipe [those] comparisons away,” Strickland said. “I don’t want him to be compared to anybody. I don’t want my other man [Trench] to be compared to anybody either, especially since he’s so new. The best thing about him, you can’t compare him and his look to any other wrestler. I think that’s the beauty of that. For me, you can’t really compare me to any other wrestlers out there either, and that’s the beauty of that.
“Parker, we’re gonna mold him into something where he’s just not trying to put on this persona that he’s like, ‘Oh, I have to be this.’ No, just be. You’re such a cool, laid-back dude, with being in the hip-hop circles and so involved in the culture and stuff like that with us. We gotta start showing people that. We gotta start making people feel like, ‘Oh, okay, I see where he’s at now. Now I’m feeling him.’ That’s how you wipe away the whole other Brock Lesnar comparisons.”
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