Swerve Strickland Explains Similarity Between Tony Khan & Triple H

Swerve Strickland had a solid stint as Isiah “Swerve” Scott in Triple H’s version of NXT, where he won the North American Championship. Strickland was released from his contract on November 18, 2021. He would show up in AEW on March 6, 2022, at the Revolution pay-per-view event, and the rest was history.

Speaking to Fightful’s The Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Strickland explained the one similarity he found between Triple H and Tony Khan. According to the former AEW World Tag Team Champion, both bookers have tremendous faith in his ability to present his character in a creative way.

“No, there’s still a lot of creative freedom, because nobody could talk like us, nobody could write our material, so they kind of gave us like guidelines. When we kind of put our own little spin on it. However, the time would fit even doing small short promos with the New Day. We just came up with that right then and there, or doing something with Sami Zayn. We just came up with it with those guys there.

“What I figured out is that I was trying to create something that nobody else can tell you how to do it. Because it’s yours and that’s where if you’re confident with it, people believe in it. That’s where a lot of my confidence came from. I know this will work, I believe in it because I am the one that can pull this off. I’m the only one who knows and sees three steps ahead how this can form and flow into what the culmination will be.

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“So you can’t take this and put it with them, you can take this and put it with her, and I have to do it. I’m confident, I know I can do it, and being able to stand up to Triple H and say, ‘I know I can do this, I need you to believe in me.’ You can’t help but be confident in yourself, and I think he and I knew he felt that, and therefore he put it out there for me. He just was like, ‘Alright go, because you believe in it, I believe in it.’ Now, Tony Khan is the same way with all of 2022, like even me taking pliers to Billy Gunn’s hands. I believe in this, and then he believed in me. He believed this would work, even bringing Kevin Gates and Rick Ross, all these things they do work. Because I believed in it and I have to be confident with it.”

Strickland is currently involved in a feud with second generation stars in AEW, as well as his former tag team partner Keith Lee. You can read more on that by clicking the link right here. Stay tuned to Ringside News for more from the world of pro wrestling.

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