One of the top heels in AEW is Swerve Strickland. He is currently leading a faction called the Mogul Affiliates. The faction also holds championship gold. The title the team possesses is the Ring of Honor Six-man Tag Team Championships.
Recently the former WWE Superstar was interviewed by Jack Farmer for Wrestling Inc. During the interview, Swerve Strickland was asked about the best matches he’s ever been a part of. To which the former AEW World Tag Team Champion replied by stating that he’s had a lot but gave a special shoutout to Matt Riddle. Strickland mentioned that the matches the two had during MLW forged a new path in his wrestling career. It made him the wrestler he is today.
“That’s really tough because sometimes the most watched, the most viewed, the most speculated ones, don’t come off as the most important. I honestly say one of the biggest, most important matches in my career that really trajected me in a different way was me and Matt Riddle from MLW. That was really big. That was what made me look like a true fighter, a true competitor, not just an athletic in ring talent. I looked like a fighter and I thank Riddle all the time for truly bringing that out in me. Surviving someone as lethal as a Matt Riddle is big,” Swerve Strickland said.
Swerve Strickland reflects on his time at Lucha Underground
While speaking in the same interview, Strickland also shared his experience in wrestling at Lucha Underground. The former NXT North American Champion spoke about some of his most promising opponents in the promotion.
“Lucha Underground, of course, when me and Dante Fox, but before that one, I would say me and Marty the Moth, that same season, it was episode two of that same season, season three of Lucha Underground. That was what really propelled me and I capitalized off of a lot of momentum from that match, which that’s a very underrated match in my career, and I think a lot of people should go back to really watch that one because I was fighting someone bigger than me who it was like that someone who won’t give up to someone who won’t go down.
“It was like a great clash of two different personalities. That’s where it all clicked for me as like, I know how to do this now. I know how to do this, and I shout out to Marty, Martin Casaus, Marty the Moth. Truly, we brought out the best in each other that nobody seen coming. A lot of people knew me and Fox were going to just go balls to the wall and kill it, but it all started from the Weapons of Mass Destruction match with Marty the Moth and episode two of season three.”
This past weekend, Strickland wrestled Hangman Adam Page in a Texas Death Match at the Full Gear pay-per-view. After a brutal match, the former WWE Superstar managed to pick up the win.
What is your favorite Swerve Strickland match?