Swerve Strickland ‘of course’ wants New Day in AEW
Swerve Strickland would love to have New Day join him in AEW, but he’ll support whatever move Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods make next in their careers.
During an appearance on TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast, Strickland reacted to the news that Kingston & Woods are no longer with WWE and will become free agents when their 90-day clauses expire. He was asked if he would like to see the two New Day members sign with AEW.
“Oh yeah, of course. Absolutely,” Strickland responded. “I also just want them to do what’s best for them. If they want to take like a five-year hiatus, they’ve earned it. They’ve more than earned it. They know their value as well, and that’s the most important thing. I hope that’s the lesson that everybody learns in this, not just like as a fan but as a professional yourself in this industry, they know their value, and they understand who they are, and they understand what they bring, and what they brought and their legacy they leave behind.”
News broke on May 2 that Kingston & Woods had been released from their WWE contracts. The two opted to depart the company instead of restructuring their deals with a significant pay cut that TKO wanted.
Strickland said he briefly communicated with Kingston via text following the WWE departure news. In the TMZ interview, he praised Kingston as the “perfect” role model who has never been in the news for the wrong thing.
“He’s like the epitome of professionalism when it comes to that,” Strickland said. “Especially in our culture, you look at Kofi as one of the like top five greatest ever to do it. He’s truly a model — a role model, but he’s the model type of role model. He’s the perfect type of role model.”
Strickland, who made history as the first Black wrestler to win the men’s AEW World Championship, said Kingston was one of the biggest inspirations for his April 2024 title win.
“I meant every word I said when I won the championship and was like, ‘Kofi’s a big inspiration for that.’ It’s like, man, how do I do something so cool like that and make it my own?,” Strickland said. “How do I do that in my own legacy, in my own career, something that Kofi did at WrestleMania. He’s the only Black wrestler to win the World Championship at WrestleMania. You cannot take that away from him. He’s the only one.”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.