Booker T says he's proud of Swerve Strickland.
At AEW Dynasty, Swerve Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to win the AEW World Championship. With the victory, he became the first African-American World Champion in AEW history.
Speaking on The Hall of Fame with Booker T and Brad Gilmore, the WWE Hall of Famer was asked to share his thoughts on Swerve Strickland's title win.
“It’s awesome, man. It’s awesome. Swerve’s a hell of a worker. He deserves it. Guy’s been grinding for a long time, and now just to have that put to rest to where you ain’t gotta think about it anymore. ‘Are they gonna look at me as a representative for this company? Am I world championship material?’ Is it gonna happen? When is it gonna happen?’ Like with me, everybody asked the question, ‘When’s the black guy gonna win the WWE Championship?’ That question was asked with me. Now, he don’t have to think about that at all. He’s crossed that threshold, he’s the world heavyweight champion now, and he’s proved that he’s just as good as anybody in the world. I believe that, too. I’m not just saying that. Swerve is a damn good worker. So for me, I’m proud of Swerve Strickland. To see him get his flowers, I’m just as happy for him myself," Booker T said.
Booker T went on to share his belief about the lack of Black world champions in top promotions. He noted that stars like Strickland didn't want to be handed the title because they were Black; instead, they wanted to win the gold because they were just as good as anyone else.
“One thing I’ve always said about this business, because a lot of people always say why doesn’t companies like WWE and AEW have more black representation, why haven’t we had more black world champions? The thing is, this has always been my reasoning why it hasn’t been a whole lot of blacks in that position, because it hasn’t been a whole lot of Black guys that have worked at that level of Swerve Strickland or myself, other Black guys who have gotten that position. I don’t think we want that championship just handed to us because we’re Black. I think we want that championship because we’re just as good as anybody in the locker room. We want to be looked at as just as good as anybody in that locker room. That’s why, when I look at Swerve Strickland, I say this kid deserves it because he’s just as good as anybody in that damn locker room," Booker T said.
After his win, Swerve Strickland described how Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship victory motivated him. Check out his comments here.
Catch up on our coverage of AEW Dynasty here.
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