Swerve Strickland on AEW heel turn: ‘It was needed’
Swerve Strickland says that his recent heel turn was needed, and Kenny Omega was the right guy to do it against.
Strickland defeated Omega in the main event of the February 18 edition of AEW Dynamite from Sacramento. The match received a 5.25 star-rating from Dave Meltzer. After the bout, Strickland attacked Omega with a chain and put him through a table.
During a recent interview with Bleeding Cool, Strickland spoke about why Omega was the right guy for his heel turn.
Strickland said:
“It was needed, and it was needed with the right person at the right time with Kenny Omega. There’s no more of a lightning rod of attention in AEW to get than Kenny Omega. Everybody’s always interested in what Kenny is doing when he’s on screen, when he’s active, and he’s very much healthy and at his best.“
“There’s no more of a top performer in the industry than Kenny Omega. So going over 25 minutes with him in the main event, taking him out at the end the way that I did, it sparked a lot of noise throughout the industry. It sparked a lot of noise throughout AEW. That also woke up Nana in a lot of ways. In a lot of different ways, I’m able to navigate and move through AEW the way that I want to. The way I’m meant to, I would say.”
Strickland and Omega faced off again in the opening match of the March 25 episode of AEW Dynamite. In that bout, Omega put up his status as an AEW executive vice president, and Strickland put his number one contendership on the line.
Strickland’s full interview with Bleeding Cool is available here.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.