In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Chris Jericho spoke highly of Swerve Strickland, calling the AEW World Champion a star and showing optimism for his future. Here are highlights:
On Swerve Strickland as AEW World champion: “This is only his first time as champ and look what he’s doing. Wait until the second time and the third time and the fourth time. He has star written all over him. “I don’t know how you could ever let that guy go. Swerve and MJF are two guys I watch and always think, ‘How did he pull that off?’ Swerve’s still not even at the peak of his character, and he already has this great connection with the crowd. His persona is larger-than-life, he works extremely hard, and he’s a good f—— person. His energy is amazing–the man can tear the house down. Swerve is our team captain right now, and I’m proud to be on that roster.”
On his Learning Tree gimmick and group: “I’m a big proponent of letting the story lead you, not the other way around. That allows me to evolve. The whole Learning Tree is taking negativity from social media and getting a reaction out of it. That’s what wrestling is all about–getting people to react to what you’re doing. There’s a serious side, too–look at the vicious beatdowns we’ve given Samoa Joe and Hook and [Katsuyori] Shibata. It’s something I made a career out of, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve been doing it for so long at the highest of levels, which makes some people mad. This is what I do. I’ve never wanted to be a nostalgia act, I’ve never wanted to rest on my laurels. I’ve also never been afraid to take chances and do something different, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
On working with Big Bill and Bryan Keith: “I think Big Bill is great–I loved him as Cass and I wanted to work with him. Tony Khan suggested Bryan Keith, and the bad apple character was born. The chemistry is great, and we’re putting a spotlight on something new–and that gives us some great stories to tell. I’ve been accused of burying young talent. Even go back to my last run in WWE, I was working with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins. I wanted to give them another way to learn, and I learned from them, too. That’s all I’ve done in AEW. Working early on with Hangman and Darby and Scorpio Sky and Jungle Boy and Orange Cassidy and MJF–who became a smarter and better wrestler, this is what I love to do.”
