AEW star Swerve Strickland spoke with Cam Hawkins for Yahoo Uncrowned about various topics, including the four wrestlers he believes define the current era of AEW.
Strickland said, “(Will) Ospreay, Hangman (Page), myself, MJF included. We are the definitions of this era and generation. We take pride in that work.”
On the stars who can pick up the baton as the future of the company:
“One, Bandido, Ring of Honor World Champion. Two, Kyle Fletcher, TNT champ. And three, shout out to [Konosuke] Takeshita for winning the G1 climax right now. These are all the guys that are in the spots right now, already being prepared for that for the next 10 years, 15 possibly. These are the guys. And once again, all cross-cultural, which is the beauty of it. Haven’t even reached their prime years yet, but all cross-cultural crossovers, all marketable, all look like supreme athletes.”
On talent being motivated in the current era:
“[Jon Moxley’s claims of,] ‘We’re seeing the guys get lazy. I’m seeing the locker room be like this, yada, yada, yada. Who’s going to step up and challenge and take this from us?’ That was both on-screen and a bit of a challenge for not just our locker room, but for our generation. I feel like we’re putting it to the test and we’re pushing it every single day, every single week, every single opportunity, because now is a chance to win. Something I always tell to the guys and girls that are going out for their match, I whisper in the ear — I give them a pat, motivation, but like, ‘Tonight is a chance to win new fans. Tonight is another chance to win a new fan. Go out there and win a new fan for you.’”
