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Swerve Strickland earned the trust of Tony Khan to become one of the top performers in All Elite Wrestling.
Former AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland was a recent guest on the No Contest Wrestling Podcast. When asked what moment propelled him to the next level within the company, Strickland pinpointed the Double or Nothing battle royal with Orange Cassidy.
“If I had to guess one, a lot of people like to pinpoint one area, but I would say the battle royal at Double or Nothing,” Swerve Strickland said. “If it doesn’t come down to me and Orange Cassidy, I don’t spark the thing with Tony of being like, ‘He made this amazing. Let’s do it again.’ I don’t spark that idea in Tony Khan’s mind.”
Strickland recalls his match with Hiroshi Tanahashi on Collision
However, Strickland also said it could have been his match with Hiroshi Tanahashi on Collision.
“Through the office, from talks I heard, it was me and Tanahashi on Collision,” Swerve Strickland continued. “It was going into Forbidden Door. He was about to do the High Fly Flow, and he slips off. I run up and start fighting him up there. He knocks me off and gives me the High Fly Flow and wins. That was the moment Tony was like, ‘I can trust him in anything.’ I can trust him with anyone and anything.
“That might be what saved the New Japan relationship with AEW. He became President soon after that, that goes away. After that, I started wrestling veterans. Gunn, Sting. ‘Swerve can make it work.’ Bring on the task, please.” [H/T: Fightful]
READ MORE: Swerve Strickland Points Out Similarities Between Himself and Hangman Adam Page
What do you make of Swerve Strickland’s overall comments? What moment in his career did you realize he would be a top player in All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
