Swerve Strickland and DEFY share some love.
AEW WrestleDream was a fitting occasion for Swerve Strickland's return to AEW, as the event was held in Tacoma, Washington. Strickland, a Tacoma native, had been absent since AEW All Out, but he made his return at the Tacoma Dome. The former AEW World Champion previously rose to stardom in DEFY, a leading independent promotion in the Pacific Northwest. He is a former three-time DEFY World Champion.
At the AEW WrestleDream post-show media scrum, Swerve Strickland highlighted the impact that DEFY has had on his career.
"Huge, huge. I love DEFY. That’s a flag I’ll always plant, and every time I get a chance to shout them out, especially in this state, I’m gonna do it. DEFY really was the birthplace for a lot of us to really get to the next level, especially on the independent level. That was really where elite wrestling really came from. Especially for this area. Pacific Northwest, there’s only a handful of guys that’s really made a name for themselves out of this area. DEFY kind of introduced a whole new crop and a whole new wave, like myself, Darby [Allin], Nick Wayne, Brody [King], we all came…there’s so many matchups that, when they happened at DEFY, it just sparked a wave of attention across the country. Then eventually across the pond to the UK, and you had PROGRESS coming over, doing things with New Japan and started doing some work with them, all these guys really started coming over there. So it was instrumental, and it really taught me how to truly be a star. You always want to go to places where you learn how to wrestle. There’s very few places that teach you how to be a star, and DEFY did that for me," Strickland said.
DEFY's official TwitterX account then responded by thanking Strickland and saying that the feeling was mutual They expressed their gratitude for the way that Strickland sent them so much love and respect at the scrum.
A huge thank you to SWERVE for sending out so much love and respect to us last night after WRESTLEDREAM. Needless to say, the feeling is mutual.
— DEFY Wrestling (@defyNW) October 13, 2024
Whose house ?!
Swerves House ! @swerveconfident pic.twitter.com/CrCmAFe2NS
Strickland also said that he was not 100% following his return at AEW WrestleDream. Check out his comments here.
Click here to see what Strickland had to say about Hangman Page.
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