Swerve Strickland has taken a lot of inspiration from Wesley Snipes to build his character in recent years.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Swerve Strickland was a recent guest on Busted Open Radio. When asked who he bases his character on, Strickland said he takes a lot of inspiration from Wesley Snipes.
“It’s based off of Wesley Snipes. The core of it when I was in NXT was based on Simon Phoenix from Demolition Man,” Swerve Strickland revealed. “But a lot of also Wesley Snipes-esque aneurysms in his acting.
“Then I went to New Jack City when I kind of transitioned over into the Mogul Embassy, Mogul Affiliates type of genre, but then I started really feeling like a lot of rappers that I’m a fan of, like Playboy Cardi, The Black Leather, and all those things.
“And braiding the hair back, and then people call it eyeliner, it’s eyeshadow, but like just those little elements of me were just starting to change, and people weren’t noticing it, but they felt something new. And it was a purpose because, like it was something that Sting did to me, that affected me and transitioned me to where I am. It’s like a purpose for why things happen.”
Swerve Strickland doesn’t pivot based on the crowd’s reactions, just like Roman Reigns
When asked if the recent support of the All Elite Wrestling fanbase has surprised him, Swerve said they like to go with how the fans feel as that’s something they don’t believe they should try to control.
“It’s a thing of, like, we kind of go with how they feel. We can’t control how the fans are going to feel about something. If they feel a certain way, you kind of go with it and flow with it,” Swerve Strickland said. “Especially like city to city to city, you get to try those things. It’s trial and error. And you try, and then you see what goes on, see how they react, and see the response to those things, and you kind of maneuver according to that.
“And that’s kind of where me and Hangman were. We saw the responses that started in Seattle at WrestleDream. Like we knew the fans were going to be kind of like for me being in my hometown and in my city and all like that. So we kind of went that way with it. We didn’t pivot; we kind of egged it on.
“If you look at Roman [Reigns], he’s the biggest heel in the business, but people acknowledge in every city they go to, and they bow down to him, and they rise up when that music hits. There’s no real difference; he’s still going to be him. He’s not going to pivot from what he’s doing. And neither is Solo, so why should I? I’m going to keep doing what I do. As long as I get a response I’m going to keep doing what I do.
“As long as there’s some type of reaction, some type of connection, and some people like just kind of like further dissecting and trying to really understand the character that gives me way more longevity and a lot of different characters that we have, and stripping those things down it gives me more time of people wanting to invest in me on television.”
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What do you make of Swerve Strickland’s comments? Can you see the Wesley Snipes inspiration in Swerve Strickland? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit Busted Open with a link to this article for the transcription.
