A popular AEW star has addressed the rumors of a AEW World Championship challenge in the near future.
After what was a breakout year in 2023, Swerve Strickland is unsurprisingly touted by many fans to capture AEW’s biggest prize at some point in the next calendar year.
The only question is when?
Speaking to Freddie Prinze Jr. on his Wrestling with Freddie podcast, Strickland was asked when he feels that career-defining moment will come for him.
Strickland said he doesn’t have a specific time in mind for capturing any championship, instead being willing to “let the universe happen” instead.
He explained:
“Right now, I don’t really (want to) put a time table on it. I feel that everything has accelerated super fast for me since being in AEW, I didn’t expect to win the AEW tag titles within six months of being there.
“That was not on my to-do list, but it ended up happening.
“Since signing up with AEW, I think of all the people that signed up with AEW, I think I had the second-fastest to win a title in the company’s history, behind FTR, and being the first African-American tag team to win the titles as well.
“Those (winning titles) aren’t something you plan out. You let the universe happen.
“November 18 was such a significant date, that was the Texas Deathmatch (at Full Gear), two years prior, that was the day I got let go from WWE.
“So that’s another thing you can’t write. It’s just all these things are aligning.
“I’m pretty sure being the first African-American World Champion in AEW — the stars are going to align at some point. I can’t force that, I can’t plan that.”
Despite Strickland being relaxed about winning the AEW Championship, based on last week’s Dynamite (January 3) it seems as if the former WWE star may be among the first names to step up to new champion Samoa Joe.
While a third match with Hangman Page may come first for Swerve, another AEW star looks potentially set to jump the queue after laying out an ambitious challenge to Joe on AEW Collision (January 6).
Transcript courtesy of WrestlingINC
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