Swerve Strickland recently named several big names who were influences on him in The New Day, Mark Henry, and MVP. The AEW World Champion spoke with Complex and talked about a number of Black wrestlers who he has looked to for inspiration and guidance, and you can see highlights below
on the New Day: “Those guys gave me love every week and they don’t have to. But I’ve always made sure to speak out and say ‘you guys influenced me.’ Kofi Kingston [in particular]. In my own way hopefully I did it justice. Hopefully I did him proud.”
On Mark Henry and MVP: “I got calls from Mark Henry. MVP gave me a nice warm embrace there,” Strickland said. “It’s just cool to be in that circle. I can talk to these guys about this because I kind of earned it in that way. Because you always want to be in that conversation in a sense. ‘Do I belong in that conversation? No. I really am in that conversation now. So I can talk with them in a different way. We’ve done it in our own respective eras and times.”
