Swerve Strickland’s coronation could be just days away. The leader of the Mogul Embassy is set to join rival Hangman Page in challenging Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at AEW Revolution. Swerve’s first AEW World Championship match comes at a time where the company is slowly ushering in a new era as well, as the imminent arrival of Will Ospreay as well as the rumored acquisitions of Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Moné puts All Elite Wrestling in a position to boom similar to Summer 2021 when CM Punk, Adam Cole, and Bryan Danielson all arrived.
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“I really feel like this changes the perception of AEW,” Swerve told ComicBook.com when asked about the acquisitions. “I feel like when you have an Ospreay, someone I’ve been wrestling since he was 19, Okada, Mercedes, this is the perfect time for the perception and just the momentum shift to happen.”
And if he wins the AEW World Championship at AEW Revolution, Swerve is the one behind the wheel during that momentum shift.
“It’s almost like I won the NBA Championship, now there’s the new draft of guys coming in the next year that’s about to alter the whole way the next year of the NBA is going to be. That’s what it honestly feels like,” Swerve continued. “It’s almost like the new wave of quarterbacks in the NFL. It’s Patrick Mahomes at the top. I want to be the Mahomes. I want to be the dynasty of what AEW is about to be. It’s not like we’re searching for the next guy, who’s it going to be? No, he’s here. We see it, we want it, we need it.”
Appreciating that opportunity goes beyond just the fact that it is coming on the precipice of a boom period. Swerve sees his potential title win as a way to usher in “true change” to the entire wrestling industry.
“For me to be the number one person on top of the company, being the lead of that momentum shift, means the world,” Swerve continued. “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.”
Swerve Strickland challenges for the AEW World Championship at AEW Revolution this Sunday, March 3rd.
