AEW’s Swerve Strickland has shared an impassioned message aimed at the current wave of wrestling free agents, urging them to reclaim their time, build their value, and no longer wait for permission to succeed.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Battleground Podcast, Strickland, who has navigated his own path from underutilized talent to headlining star, offered heartfelt and motivational advice to those navigating the uncertain waters of free agency.
“A lot of those guys have had their gripes about how they’ve been used for the last several years,” Strickland said. “All the opportunities they thought they had that were taken away from them. They felt short-handed and short-changed in a lot of different ways.”
Now, he says, the power has shifted.
“All the things you weren’t allowed to do — now you have the chance to create it for yourself. There’s nobody to tell you no. No one to say, ‘We’ll get back to you,’ and then you hear nothing for six months. No one’s taking your time away anymore. The time is now, not later. And it’s yours.”
Strickland’s message centered on reclaiming lost time and turning it into leverage — something he sees as essential in today’s wrestling landscape.
“Take that time and cherish it. Now you get other people to respect your time — because that’s something nobody can pay you for. You can’t buy time.”
His closing words were a rallying cry to wrestlers ready to bet on themselves:
“Don’t wait around for anybody or anything. Make people come to you. Don’t run for somebody else — make them chase you. Be so good that they need you. Build your leverage back, because that’s the hardest thing in this industry to truly gain — and once you’ve got it, protect it.”
Strickland’s rise through the ranks of AEW and his current run as one of the company’s top stars underscores the power of this mindset — and his message is resonating with countless wrestlers looking to take control of their next chapter.
Stay with PWMania.com for more on Swerve Strickland, AEW updates, and exclusive interviews from across the wrestling world.
