Swerve Strickland became the first-ever Black AEW World Champion last night.
Strickland pinned Samoa Joe in the main event to win his first world title. This was a huge milestone for both Swerve and AEW, and is a historic moment for the business going forward.
Swerve Strickland spoke at the AEW Dynasty post-show media scrum about his title win. He said his win sends a message that “it’s possible”, and that young black fans can aspire to succeed like he did.
“I think this one moment sends many messages to everybody. Primarily, it’s possible. It can be done, but it’s not easy. Like, I kept saying this throughout the week through all these media and interviews I was doing. ‘What happens if this doesn’t work out?’ I don’t win the championship. ‘Ah, well, push it down the road, or we got to wait for a bigger moment. We got to push it down the road again.’ That’s happened several times in history, and pushing it down the road results to missed opportunities. It never happens, and I’ve seen that way too many times as a kid growing up. I’m sure you have too, and I’m sure a lot of other people have.”
“They’ve seen opportunities for us pushed down the road, want to build it to something bigger around the corner, and boom, injuries. Boom, somebody else gets the opportunity in front of them. Boom, that person’s not as hot as they were before, and the timing was missed. And boom, that person, you never see or hear from them again. They’re — police, fired, gone somewhere else, and that moment just flickered. When it’s our moment, we have to take it. That’s the message I’ve been wanting to send.”
Swerve Strickland Was Inspired By Kofi Kingston
Swerve Strickland continued. He noted that he was inspired by Kofi Kingston’s WWE Champion win at WrestleMania 35. Swerve revealed that he wanted his own “KofiMania” moment in AEW for the next generation.
“Friends of mine, seeing friends like Kofi [Kingston]. The last five years was probably one of the biggest inspirational things you’ve ever seen. Not just in black history but in wrestling history period. And that’s motivating. That’s inspiring. And that makes me like ‘I want to do that for the next generation.'”
He Was Inspired To Take His Chances By Others In The Locker
Later in the interview, Swerve Strickland was asked about his stars like Adam Copeland have pushed him to make the most of his opportunities. He noted that the new signings coming in have made him see things differently, and no view them so much as a threat, but as part of a team.
“A lot of, like, there’s this easy to find ways to feel like that’s a threat to you guys, you know? Like, to us, to the locker room, it’s an easy way. But, man, it’s just like, ‘Alright, this is happening. We gotta do something more. We gotta push, like, create, innovate. And we have to really start grinding our gears because this is an ongoing business that’s constantly moving. It’s a never-ending Rubik’s Cube, this industry is, and it’ll eat you alive if you can’t figure out one side of it. It’ll eat you alive trying to figure it out.”
“But, man, like, these people that are coming in and these are people maybe this is people you want to build a team with. Maybe these are people that you want to not fight against. Maybe we didn’t start building with them instead of just trying to look at them as just, like, you know, trying to beat them out a little bit. I don’t know, I look at things a little differently.”
“Maybe like, I don’t know, that’s just me. Like, maybe there’s other ways around it rather than the obvious of just like, ‘This guy’s coming to take my spot, this woman’s coming to take her spot.’ Maybe there’s something, maybe there’s another way. And maybe AEW is offering that other way to get things done worth looking into.”
