AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland’s back has been against the wall heading into his first pay-per-view title defense. Set to face Christian Cage for his belt at , Swerve has been put through the ringer. Not only has he suffered numerous attacks at the hands of Cage’s cronies, but he has endured them without any help in his corner. Cage and AEW EVPs Matthew and Nicholas Jackson convinced Swerve’s own stable, the Mogul Embassy, to turn on him.
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The one person missing from the equation, however, was Prince Nana. He was a key member of Mogul Embassy and Swerve’s right-hand man, but he hasn’t been seen for weeks. That changed on Wednesday night’s episode of .
Christian and Swerve were engaged in a fight out in the parking lot, brawling on top of a car, and it seemed like Swerve might be on the verge of another beatdown. But Nana showed up at just the right time and helped turn the tide.
Heading into Double or Nothing, it’s no secret that Christian has more numbers on his side, but it at least seems now like Swerve is no longer totally alone.
He has soared to new heights since coming over to AEW, but Strickland doesn’t mind admitting just how much he learned from people he worked with in the WWE. In fact, while speaking to ComicBook.com earlier this year, Swerve talked about the influence the Wise Man Paul Heyman had on AEW character.
“Definitely about how I approached the camera,” Swerve said. “As I was getting more opportunities in front of the camera in AEW, I realized there was a lot of maturing that my character and myself as a performer needed to really do and really understand. It hasn’t been a while since I’ve talked to him, but I still could pick up the phone and text him or give him a call or anything like that anytime.”
“It was really when I did the Billy Gunn torture angle,” he continued. “He said it wasn’t necessarily his style of filming, but it was also a way that he just knew that this does make you look more intimidating and I think that’s an advantage.”
Double or Nothing, the next pay-per-view event for All Elite Wrestling, will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, May 26th.
