Swerve Strickland: Everyone behind the scenes in AEW has ‘stepped up so much’

Swerve Strickland believes AEW has leveled up behind the scenes over the past year, improving in all areas of business.

While at San Diego Comic Con last month, Strickland spoke to Big Gold Belt Media about AEW’s collaboration with Reebok & Champs Sports, crediting AEW for making his custom Reebok sneaker happen.

“Dude, that wasn’t me at all, that was just an AEW thing,” Strickland said about the partnership. “I really feel like over the last year, All Elite Wrestling, the marketing department, the social team, like everything has just stepped up so much, tenfold. Not just in the ring, not just the product you see on TV, not just like the stories and the people, like the talent — I feel like everybody behind the scenes from top to bottom, like the camera work, the production, like everybody stepped up so much.”

The Reebok Answer 3 Swerve was released this May. It features Allen Iverson’s Reebok Answer III shoe as the base with colors and other details inspired by Strickland.

Along with the Strickland collaboration, Reebok has released Young Bucks-inspired sneakers and a Brodie Lee tribute shoe.

Strickland, one of the top stars in AEW, has a big match coming up at Forbidden Door this weekend. He’s challenging Kazuchika Okada for the AEW Unified Championship at the August 24 pay-per-view in London.