Swerve Strickland explains why winning the AEW World Championship was special.
In the main event of AEW Dynasty, Swerve Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to win the AEW World Championship. In doing so, he became the first African-American world champion in AEW history.
Speaking on River City Live, Swerve Strickland commented on his title win.
"I’ve held a lot of championships in my career. This one is just at the very, very top. It’s not even close. The moment, the championship, the match, the pay-per-view, the headline, the opponent, all that means so much because of this championship," Strickland said.
Strickland was then asked to explain why the title held special significance to him. He explained that being the first of anything was significant. Strickland also highlighted how it was clear that his win meant a lot to the fans.
"Being the first of anything is gonna hold significance to me, not only just the performer, but the company. Going through the airport the day afterwards, like I took pictures with fans that literally flew from other states and sides of the country to come see this event happen because they just felt like this is the moment, this is the coronation of something historic, and people were crying in the crowd, in the front row, after the victory. People were shaking [while] I’m shaking their hands. I’ve never had that experience before. Seeing how much that means to everybody, it felt like we won. That’s what you kind of want from your fan base, and I feel like that’s what made the main event special. Hat’s off to Ospreay and Bryan Danielson having a classic banger out there, which I knew they would. But this one hit home a little differently because it was to the heart, it was to the sentiment. It was something special," Strickland said.
Swerve Strickland has said that Kofi Kingston winning the AEW World Championship inspired him. Check out his comments here.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T stated that Strickland deserved to win the gold. Click here to see what he had to say.
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