Swerve Strickland is a big fan of competition in wrestling.
On Tuesday, October 10, WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite will go head to head once again, renewing the rivalry that was once known as the Wednesday Night Wars. This has prompted both companies to load up their own shows, as stars like John Cena, Paul Heyman, and Cody Rhodes are set to appear on NXT, while AEW Dynamite will feature the in-ring debut of Adam Copeland (Edge) and a big time matchup between Swerve Strickland and Bryan Danielson.
While speaking to DAZN for a new interview, Swerve Strickland was asked about the reaction from fans and media, to which he noted that he wishes they'd make an even bigger deal about it.
“They should, they should. I want them to make more of it. It’s two rival teams going at it on the same night. You’re wearing your jersey, [they’re] wearing [their] jersey and you’re rooting for your home team, whoever that may be. But, at least you’re watching. Some people are going to watch both.”
Strickland went on to say give a preview of Dynamite before stating that there's a lot of intrigue around both shows for a number of reasons, making them both appointment television.
“There’s a lot of story in this too, the guys that have been around for a while are facing a lot of the young guys. You got Adam Copeland and Luchasaurus, you got Bryan Danielson and myself, you got Shida and Saraya, and you’ve got Moxley and Fenix again. You’re seeing a lot of the older guard facing the newer guard. With that being said, a lot of those guys are ex-WWE guys — some people are going to be like, yo, that’s where he’s been? Let me check in and watch this. I’m so used to seeing him over here, he’s wrestling someone I’ve never seen before over there. For a first time viewer, there’s a lot of intrigue on that, there’s a lot of intrigue on Adam Copeland alone. There’s a lot of intrigue on me, with me and Bryan Danielson never facing off before. There’s a lot of intrigue with Hangman Page and Jay White, both Bullet Club members and Jay White is 2-0 on Hangman, so there’s a lot of backstory on these matchups. Then, over there, there’s a lot of stars and legends that are being packed on the show. There’s so much intrigue, that’s story in itself that these guys are causing this to happen. It’s good, it’s beautiful, I welcome it. I’m happy, I wish we could do this every night because then everybody is going to be glued, I’m sitting down because I have to watch this, it’s appointment TV, which we are losing a lot of. A lot of times it’s just like, nah, I’m gonna wait until it shows up on Netflix, I’m gonna wait until it shows up on this streaming service. No, no, this is appointment TV, you have to be there at this time cause you want to talk about this years later, I remember that match, I was there when this happened, I remember where I was sitting. That’s a feeling you don’t get too much as wrestling fans or as television viewers.”
Fightful will have full coverage of both AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT beginning at 8 p.m. EST.
After the conclusion of both shows, Fightful will air a post-show review over on our YouTube channel.
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