Swerve Strickland explains why he trusts organic creative process in AEW
Swerve Strickland discussed his continued evolution as a performer in AEW, and what could lead to potential changes in the future.
Strickland talked about his wrestling evolution and raising the bar every time he steps foot in the ring during his interaction on the Battleground Podcast. He believes some wrestling moments cannot be planned and they ultimately transform wrestlers.
“I don’t even know that. Even I don’t know. It’s something that I’m always creating. It’s an ever-flowing, ever-evolving feeling and progression. You never know what the progression is until you’re in it. Once again, that’s still that knowing feeling like, ‘all right, I know the move here.’ But at the same time, you don’t plan too much ahead. If you over plan things, that’s where you start doubting. You have to constantly tweak things and constantly mess with something that’s an organic feel. You don’t want that too much.”
“A lot of things, I have to let Swerve just be Swerve. I let things play out. Let things organically feel how they feel, and the fans feel that. The fans understand and they understand and speak on it. They speak on when- ‘like, man, I felt that. Like, I don’t know. There’s something special about this moment that I can’t put my finger on. There’s something special about this match, this person, this interaction, these two, or these three, these four in the ring together. I feel like we’re witnessing something.’”
“But as a performer, you just got to live in it. You got to make sure you just sit in that moment and take, like, the time has to take a little bit slower then everybody else does because everybody’s like kind of rushed and get to the next thing. You got to sit in that moment and understand, and like you literally weave and play with all those elements and things and really understand them and use them, make that organic, and then it becomes you in a way.”
Strickland will face Will Ospreay for the Owen Hart Cup finals at AEW Forbidden Door on June 26. He debuted on AEW in 2022 after a two-year association with WWE. He underwent a notable character and physique transformation that helped establish him as a top star on the promotion, and which culminated in a World Championship reign in 2024.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.