Swerve Strickland already has a couple of matches under his belt as AEW World Champion, defeating both Kyle Fletcher and Claudio Castagnoli in the last week. He’s been busy in the two weeks since taking All Elite Wrestling’s top prize from Samoa Joe at , but his biggest challenge lies ahead. On Wednesday night’s new episode of AEW Dynamite, Swerve’s opponent for Double or Nothing 2024 was revealed, officially setting the champ’s first pay-per-view defense.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Thanks to the work of EVPs Matthew and Nicholas Jackson, Christian Cage was named as Swerve’s challenger at Double or Nothing. After entering the ring with the rest of the Patriarchy, Christian attacked Swerve and delivered a promo that reminded all the fans watching about their complicated history. Swerve once attacked Christian’s current protege, Nick Wayne, at his own home gym. Swerve also took a pin in a tag team match that cost Christian a victory.
There’s a lot of bad blood between these two, and there is still a bit of time before Double or Nothing, leaving room for things to get even more destructive.
Strickland has been steadily rising to the top of the ranks in AEW since his debut at Revolution in 2022. He’s gone through runs as both a heel and a babyface, including a stint as AEW World Tag Team Champion with Keith Lee. His journey ultimately led to a collision course with “Hangman” Adam Page that saw Swerve at his nastiest, before a slight redemption arc on his way to winning the title from Samoa Joe.
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.
