Swerve Strickland Was Given Valuable Advice By AEW Legend

Swerve Strickland has revealed details behind key career advice given to him by AEW legend Kenny Omega.

The 34 year-old star has enjoyed a meteoric career rise since signing with Tony Khan’s organisation in March 2022, capturing the AEW Tag Team Championship at AEW Dynamite: Fyter Fest Night with partner Keith Lee less than four months later.

Strickland continued to build his career in the ensuing months with marquee victories over the likes of Jay White and Adam Page on the way to capturing the AEW World Championship from Samoa Joe at AEW Dynasty on 21st April 2024.

The Tacoma, Washington native reflected on his AEW career during a recent interview with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, during which he explained the key confidence boost he received after early feedback from AEW legend Kenny Omega:

“I remember he gave me huge compliments on a tag match that I had. It was one of the tag matches, it was on Rampage that you would probably never guess or never think that was the match that he gave me the thumbs up for.

Ever since then I was like, ‘Oh, wow, okay.’ That’s where it showed to me, especially where Kenny is, not just in wrestling but for our company. Every performance is a moment to capture something.You don’t take any type of like match, no matter where—on a Rampage, Ring of Honor, Collision, or when we had Dark—every opportunity is an opportunity to wipe something beforehand and start anew and I feel like that’s where I learned that lesson with Kenny.

He’s like, ‘Wow, boom, now I understand this guy.’ It was like, ‘That was the performance you saw? That one?’ He’s like, ‘Yep, that was the one.’So that goes to show you, there’s things that you see on screen that other people are truly appreciating and looking for that you wouldn’t know.

So go out there, give it your best no matter who your opponent is, who you’re with, no matter what hour you go on on the night. No matter your opponent, where you’re tagged, where you fit in. Every opportunity is a true chance to gain something or the biggest respect out of whoever’s watching. You never know.

For Kenny to come out of his way to tell me that, huge honor, huge respect from him, and for him to have me in such high regard with all the talent that’s in here is even better. That’s incredible.”

Swerve Strickland Admits To AEW Frustrations

Swerve Strickland recently revealed that he was contracted with AEW until 2029 before indicating that he had no desire to move elsewhere during this point in his career.

The former AEW Tag Team Champion recently admitted that he had recently experienced frustrations with the company, however, before noting that he was happy to work through his issues with Tony Khan rather than jump ship.

H/T: Fightful for the above transcription.