Swerve Strickland wants to use his run as a heel to show the world that he's dangerous.
Strickland made his AEW debut at the Revolution pay-per-view on March 6. He went on to form a tag team with Keith Lee, and the duo won the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but their partnership ultimately imploded. Strickland turned on Lee and unleashed his Mogul Affiliates group on his former partner on the December 21 episode of AEW Dynamite.
In an interview with Stephanie Holland of The Root, Strickland discussed his heel turn, which began when he brutally took out Billy Gunn by attacking his hands, and described how it has allowed him to show his range as a character. He made it clear that his goal moving forward is to show everyone that he's a dangerous individual. Strickland also teased that there are consequences for lighting his fuse.
“It showed a different side of me…also it showed that I can be a dangerous person. There has to be a sense of danger. I showed the world that I can perform. Now I need to show the world that I’m actually a dangerous individual. Every time you step in the ring with me, or get around me, whether it’s a backstage promo, whether I’m by myself talking to the camera, there’s a sense there’s a fuse, and it’s really, really short. And there’s consequences to igniting that fuse," Strickland said.
Strickland also offered some insight into his approach to playing his character and described how he borrows from other people's motivations and the overall scenario he's in. He noted that he likes to play with certain aspects of a given situation and improvise.
“I always survey the playing field of my character, other people’s characters, other people’s motivations, my motivation and the situation in the scenario I’m in. Then that’s where I really get to have a lot of fun and manipulate and play with certain things. I think that’s why people really dig a lot of my work in the ring as far as my persona, because I’m just taking and improvising with what I’m giving. I shift on what the crowd’s feeling," Strickland said.
In the same interview, Strickland noted that he wants to face Andrade El Idolo and Kyle O'Reilly. Check out his comments here.
Strickland is set to face AR Fox on the January 4 episode of AEW Dynamite. Check out the card here.
Tony Khan recently discussed balancing homegrown and established stars in AEW. Click here to see what he had to say.
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