Now chasing the world heavyweight championship in All Elite Wrestling, Stephen “Swerve” Strickland has nice type with regards to profitable titles. The 6’ 1” man-mountain from Tacoma, WA, is a former NXT North American Champion and AEW Tag Team Champion, and, if he can take the crown from Samoa Joe on the AEW Dynasty 2024 pay-per-view on Sunday, April 21, this 33-year-old warrior will grow to be the primary black kingpin within the firm, an achievement that is essential to the inspiring professional wrestler and rapper. M&F sat down with Strickland for a wide-ranging dialog, and we quickly discovered that his navy coaching is perhaps a deciding issue within the hotly anticipated heavyweight conflict.
Spending nearly all of the primary seven years of his life on an American navy base in Frankfurt, Germany, the place his father, a sergeant top quality, was stationed, Strickland grew to become enamored with the concept of service. While the household did return to the United States, and Strickland picked up a love of dance whereas additionally excelling in soccer, basketball, and observe and discipline, the younger prodigy quickly adopted in his dad’s footsteps. He entered the US Army Reserve at 17 and after finishing fundamental coaching, developed himself even additional, present process 22 weeks of Advanced Individual Training. Strickland served as a 25U Signal Support Systems Specialist for eight years, however the intestinal fortitude required to finish one of these coaching would undoubtedly grow to be an excellent basis for a profession between the ropes.
“Mainly, it was a lot of endurance,” shares Strickland. “It was rucksack marches, going for nine miles and stuff. That was actually really taxing on the back.” The younger upstart mastered his posture and type, and was quickly blitzing throughout the sphere. Morning wakeup calls had been 4am, and coaching started 4.30am. “All of that is mentally exhausting before it even gets to the physical (exercise)” he says. “I always made sure my strength came from my core and my thighs.” The soldier-turned-grappler says that deadlifts have at all times been an vital side of his conditioning. At the height of his lifting, Strickland explains that he may deadlift 425 kilos (193 kilograms) at a body weight of simply 180 kilos (82 kilograms).
Incredibly, Swerve Strickland skilled to grow to be a professional wrestler early into his navy profession and was pressured to maintain his matches native to take care of his military reserve commitments. After leaving service and furthering his title on the impartial wrestling scene, he appeared in Lucha Underground, Major League Wrestling, and numerous different promotions till he signed with WWE in 2019. It was there that he held the NXT North American title for 105 days, however would quickly be launched from the corporate a lot to the frustration of followers and wrestling critics alike. Stronger than ever, the powerhouse tells M&F that round this time, he was hitting deadlifts of 615 kilos (279 kilograms) whereas nonetheless weighing lower than 200 kilos (91 kilograms).
Swerve Strickland Believes in a ‘No Excuses’ Mentality
Fortunately, after the frustration of exiting WWE, Swerve’s spirit stayed the course and he held on to his dream of being a world class professional wrestling famous person. “Without the mental training (in the army), I don’t think I would have lasted, or I would have quit,” he shares. “I don’t think I would have had a consistent career in pro wrestling.” The wrestler explains that his navy coaching meant that he was additionally in a position to keep mentally sturdy sufficient to sacrifice sleep when his daughter was born, and nonetheless chase his desires, placing within the arduous work required so as to transfer ahead. “You don’t get excuses in the military, so you don’t get excuses in life,” explains Strickland. “It’s not gonna be fair, nobody’s gonna hand you anything, you are going to have to work hard, and you are going to have to block out a lot of negativity, a lot of doubt, and push through.”
Post WWE, Swerve Strickland competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2022, and signed with All Elite Wrestling that very same yr. Within months Strickland had earned gold as soon as once more by profitable the AEW tag-team belt alongside Keith Lee, however it could be a brutal Texas Death Match towards “Hangman” Adam Page that actually put the grappler on the map. A massacre, the matches ruleless barbarity divided viewers, nevertheless it was praised with a five-star score by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, and served to point out that Strickland was a person who may maintain his personal in big-time bouts.
“That was the moment to go above and beyond,” he explains of the gutsy efficiency. “It’s that chokehold you wanna have on this industry.” The momentum earned throughout that match has helped drive Strickland to his present place as primary contender for the AEW title towards Samoa Joe. But beating Joe at AEW Dynasty 2024 is not only about incomes a title for himself, however extra so about turning into AEW’s first black champion and offering some illustration.
“I called it out on a promo,” says Strickland of voicing that need. “I put consciousness to it, not in a slight to anyone, it wasn’t to get again at somebody, it wasn’t to slight Tony Khan, it wasn’t to slight AEW, or name out a problem. No, it was to place out that these are my desires and aspirations, that is my motive, that is what I carry, that is what anyone who’s from a unique tradition or a minority in any means, all of us carry that. I’ve no issues with going out any saying it, as a result of it’s true. No one (else) can communicate my very own reality. I would like the duty to hold that on and make my in-print. Shout out to the opposite folks which can be doing it. I acknowledge you too, and I would like you to know that I’m supportive of you guys too.
Of course, Swerve Strickland has followers of all colours and creeds. Already one among AEW hottest superstars, the No. 1 contender says that he lives by the phrases he as soon as acquired from John Cena when he requested the icon grow to be the most effective within the recreation. The reply? “One fan at a time,” responded the mentor. AEW Dynasty shall be broadcast dwell on April 21, 2024.
For tickets to see an occasion close to you, go to!