AEW ushered in its new era with Swerve Strickland helming things when he won the world championship at AEW Dynasty. Since his AEW debut in 2022 he’s been chasing the world title and has come close many times. His iconic feud with Hangman Adam Page that took him through the last six months really catapulted him into top star status within AEW as the crowds became more and more insistent about him being champion. He’s helping bridge the gap in pop culture to AEW with his music career, acting, and podcast. In addition,ย Uproxx Sports recently revealed that Strickland has been filming a documentary series of sorts that reportedly picks up around AEW Worlds End in his match against Dustin Rhodes.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Strickland recently defended the championship for the first time against Blackpool Combat Club’s Claudio Castagnoli. After winning that match, he was approached by The Elite who informed him that his challenger at Double or Nothing would be none other than Christian Cage. Cage has been absent from AEW since losing the TNT Championship to Adam Copeland. Strickland has been with AEW since 2022 following his WWE release in 2021. Upon his arrival, he was teamed with Keith Lee and they formed “Swerve in Our Glory.” They would go on to win the AEW World Tag Team Championships, defeating the Young Bucks and Team Taz at Fyter Fest 2022. When that team split, Strickland faced off against some of AEW’s best in Darby Allin, Christopher Daniels, Ortiz, Anthony Bowens, Bryan Danielson, Jay White and Jon Moxley.
“For me to be the number one person on top of the company, being the lead of that momentum shift, means the world,” Swerve told Comicbook’s Liam Crowley in February. “It means like this is true change to not just AEW but the industry worldwide. I believe I might go down as the youngest African-American world champion in the history of the big industries. That means everything. Like going from 205 Live to the World Heavyweight Championship of this major company, All Elite Wrestling, nobody ever would see something like that happening. I changed that.”
Comicbook will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates when available. In the meantime, catch AEW Double or Nothing on May 26 live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
AEW Double or Nothing Card (So Far)
- AEW World Championship: Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Christian Cage
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Serena Deeb
- TBS Championship:ย Willow Nightingale (c) vs. Mercedes Monรฉ
- AEW International Championship:ย Roderick Strong (c) vs. Will Ospreay
