Swerve Strickland Details How Adam Copeland Mentored Him For The Past Three Years (Exclusive)

All eyes are on Swerve Strickland right now. The leader of the Mogul Embassy is currently on the run of his career in AEW, positioning himself as one of the company’s top heels thanks to high-profile victories over the likes of Darby Allin and “Hangman” Adam Page. His recent in-ring performances and character work has regularly elicited praise from fans but has also caught the attention of greats within the wrestling world.

Hours after Swerve defeated Page at AEW WrestleDream, Adam Copeland made his AEW debut. The wrestler formerly known as Edge addressed his jump on the AEW WrestleDream post-show press conference, emphasizing that AEW’s talent pool was too rich to pass up.

“I look at entire roster of fresh faces and so many talent that I’ve never laid hands on before, and that to me, for a person who’s driven by challenges, that was the biggest thing,” Copeland said. “I see a guy like Nick Wayne. I see Swerve. There’s so many possibilities here.”

Swerve Strickland Details Mentorship From Adam Copeland

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Swerve Strickland responded to Adam Copeland name-dropping him as a desired future opponent in his first time speaking on an AEW microphone.

“That shows that I’m on the radar. I’m not just a talent on the roster,” Strickland said. “I’m not just a guy floating in the talent pool. That means I’m very visible. I’m on the top. I’m one of the priorities.”

This is Swerve’s first time sharing a locker room with Copeland since they briefly crossed paths as part of WWE SmackDown in 2021. Even though they were only on the same brand for a couple of weeks, Swerve and Copeland kept in contact.

“Me and Edge have been friends for the past three years. He has been somewhat of a mentor to me in those last three years,” Swerve said. “He’s been watching. We’ve been talking on the phone. He’s been really criticizing a lot of my stuff in a good way. Productive criticisms. That’s where I can’t help but get better. I can’t help but push myself and find unique ways to stand out. I’m not going to say everything has been a hundred percent perfect, but you have guys like Edge that see that. He understands what that entails. He’s made his mistakes and he has grown from them, and he has built even more successes on top of that. He sees that in me.”

In his early singles days in WWE, Copeland made a name for himself as a top heel. While his main priority was winning championships, Copeland also made sure to get under his opponents’ skin by any means necessary. 

As Swerve pursues his first singles title in AEW, he has followed a similar trajectory to Copeland’s villainous days in the mid 2000s. Swerve has targeted top talent like Hangman Page and has made an effort to add a personal layer to their feud.

“For the guys in our position (heels), competing in that realm is just myself and Christian, who is another legend that’s been doing this for 30 years,” Strickland said. “I’m in a really good spot right now. I’m a new face of that role of villainy. That face of evil in a sense. You don’t really see guys that look like me in that position rank that high, especially in this industry, it’s very unique. That’s what I bring. Uniqueness. I feel like Edge feels that.”

Swerve takes on Bryan Danielson in an AEW TNT Championship No.1 Contender’s Match this Tuesday on AEW Dynamite: Title Tuesday.