Swerve Strickland returns 'home,' appears unannounced with world title outside AEW
Swerve Strickland recently made a surprise appearance in another wrestling promotion and he also brought his AEW World Title along with him.
Swerve is a former DEFY star. Before signing to AEW and even before he landed in WWE, the independent wrestling promotion was his home for some time. The promotion helped him to kick-start his ascent in the wrestling industry.
DEFY's Here and Now event took place on May 10 and emanated from Washington Hall in Seattle. Swerve Strickland surprised the fans by making an appearance at the event.
Fans were happy to see him there and filled the arena with chants of, "Whose house? Swerve's house." The reigning AEW World Champion took the microphone and addressed the crowd, sharing his experience as a former DEFY star.
He talked about how the promotion positively impacted his career. He also reminisced about his match against Cody Rhodes, which took place at the inaugural DEFY event, DEFY 1.
Swerve Strickland expressed his gratitude towards his fans for their constant support and hyped up the new generation of stars who are on their path to making a name for themselves in the industry. He also announced a free meet-and-greet after the show.
Kofi Kingston praises Swerve Strickland
Swerve Strickland became the first African American to become a World Champion in AEW at Dynasty. He addressed his title victory at the Dynasty post-media scrum and disclosed Kofi Kingston as his biggest inspiration, who motivated him to push harder.
While speaking on the Battleground podcast, Kofi mentioned The Realest Star and praised him for his success in the industry.
"But it is a beautiful thing to see people of color out there doing their thing. Like you said, Swerve too, man. I’ve watched his career for a very, very long time. I’ve gotten to know him very well over the years. I’m really, really happy for his success too. So it is a beautiful thing, and we are keeping it going. I love it," he said.
The 47-year-old star not only became an inspiration to Swerve but to all the black wrestlers in the wrestling industry. At WrestleMania 35 (KofiMania) he beat Daniel Bryan to become the WWE Champion for the first time and also became the first African-born WWE Champion in history.