Strickland added that Tony Khan gave him the space to express his creativity.
The new number one contender to the AEW World Championship is Swerve Strickland. He earned that opportunity at the Revolution pay-per-view by defeating Ricochet.
Going into the show, Strickland sat down with Adrian Hernandez for an interview. Along the way, Strickland gave credit to WWE Performance Center coach Terry Taylor for helping improve his wrestling psychology. He then credited AEW President Tony Khan for giving him the platform to express his creativity.
It started with the ring psychology. At first, it was Terry Taylor in NXT. My mind was already working, but then he just — well, working in a certain way. But when I got into his class and I got in the ring with him, my dial turned so much further and it got me really thinking and touching base on who is doing what to so and so? Why is doing what to so and so? What’s the purpose? What’s the motive? How do you feel about what so and so did to so and so about what so and so did? To what? Your body part, your mom, your partner, your wife, your this. Your significant other. All these things. So it just took that storytelling part and it went another level depth and I was like, ‘Wow. I don’t just have to apply that here in the ring. I can apply that everywhere.’ So I just started really playing with that and Tony Khan gave me the platform to, ‘No. Go play’ and so I was like, ‘Okay. Cool. Let me wear this because so and so did that to me. That’s why I wear this. Let me change this because so and so happened in my life so therefore, I wear this now.’ Instead of just coming out to wear things or just coming out for music to have this because of that.
Strickland was the closing shot of AEW Revolution as he did a ‘Swerve Stomp’ onto AEW World Champion Jon Moxley.
If the quote in this article is used, please credit Adrian Hernandez with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcription.
