A match with Hiroshi Tanahashi changed everything for Swerve Strickland.
2024 has been an extremely successful year for Swerve Strickland, as he's held the AEW World Championship and been involved in heated feuds with Adam Page, Bryan Danielson, and Will Ospreay.
While speaking to O’Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson of the No Contest Wrestling podcast for a new interview, Swerve Strickland was asked to talk about the moment that propelled him to the next level in AEW.
"If I had to guess one, a lot of people like to pinpoint one area, but I would say the battle royal at Double or Nothing. If it doesn’t come down to me and Orange Cassidy, I don’t spark the thing with Tony of being like, ‘He made this amazing. Let’s do it again.’ I don’t spark that idea in Tony Khan’s mind."
Strickland went on recall the moment that he thinks Tony Khan began to heavily trust him.
"Through the office, from talks I heard, it was me and Tanahashi on Collision. It was going into Forbidden Door. He was about to do the High Fly Flow, and he slips off. I run up and start fighting him up there. He knocks me off and gives me the High Fly Flow and wins. That was the moment Tony was like, ‘I can trust him in anything.’ I can trust him with anybody and anything. That might be what saved the New Japan relationship with AEW. He became President soon after that. He gets hurt, that goes away. After that, I started wrestling veterans. RVD, Jeff Hardy, Billy Gunn, Sting. ‘Swerve can make it work.’ Bring on the task, please."
Elsewhere in the interview, Strickland said that Adam Page has an ugly baby. Check out his full comments on the matter here.
If you missed anything from the October 18 edition of AEW Rampage, check out the updated lineup here.
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