Swerve Strickland Was Surprised By All Out Crowd’s Reaction For The Acclaimed
AEW star Swerve Strickland admitted that the reaction The Acclaimed received at All Out was bigger than he had expected.
One of the highlights from this year’s edition of All Out was the AEW World Tag Team Championship match between Swerve In Our Glory and The Acclaimed which received plaudits from around the wrestling world.
Despite both teams being fan favourites going in, the Chicago audience was firmly behind The Acclaimed and showered Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee with boos when the duo retained their titles.
During an interview with Phil Strum on “Under The Ring”, Swerve admitted surprise at just how big an reaction The Acclaimed recieved during the bout, although he believes it actually worked out in his team’s favour.
“That matchup, the reaction was bigger than I thought it would be initially, but I knew the Acclaimed was going to have a big reaction and I knew we would have to deviate a little during the crowd reaction, but it worked out better in our favour.
“As a performer, that’s what you want. You want the crowd to exceed your expectations of what you present going into a matchup. They did just that, and that’s where it became really fun as an entertainer and performer.
“When you get to play with those different reactions from crowds and navigate and toy with them here and let things simmer here, and you know where things are going to go later in the match, that’s when you can start setting the table and letting the audience dictate how big things are going to get.
“Me and Keith have been doing this for so long, and at such a high level, we were made for that moment.”
Strickland went on to explain the pride he and Keith Lee feel in bringing The Acclaimed up to a new level during the bout.
“The fact that we delivered something like that as special with The Acclaimed, I don’t believe they had opportunities like that prior to All Out and to go out there and do that with them made it really special. We take pride in elevating new talent.
“They aren’t new to AEW, but they are new in that spot, and we take pride in bringing them up to that level and showcasing to the world, ‘these guys have arrived,’ but they still have a ways to go to reach myself and Keith Lee.
“The extra icing on the cake is the fact that nobody expected us to do that. That’s kind of the story of my career, exceeding expectations of fans, critics, the locker room, wrestling media, that’s what I’ve been doing all my career, same for Keith.”
Swerve In Our Glory and The Acclaimed will clash for the titles again at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam on September 21st.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.