After his successful defense of the AEW World Championship at Forbidden Door, Swerve Strickland spoke to the media.
Following his very well-received match with Will Ospreay, Strickland talked about constantly having to reach new levels:
People think I’m good to a certain level, or the expectations of me are getting lower, until I break through, and then they gotta create another ceiling.
He was asked what he said to Ospreay after the match:
I honestly just told him I love him, man, and he’s the best in the world. He’s one of the best talents I’ve ever seen and there’s going to be a long time till you find someone as special as him — like how he does it. And I can’t wait to do it with him again someday.
Strickland also noted that a win over Bryan Danielson was “at the top” of his list:
I still want that win back so bad. That’s someone that’s something that still irks me to this day, that loss from Bryan, because he’s someone I idolized and I look up to, especially coming from the Pacific Northwest, we both share the Seattle/Tacoma background, and from his career for the last 10 to 15 years I’ve been watching and studying that man.
That’s a win that I need to mark off of my off my list and I don’t have a long list really. It’s very small, but definitely Brian Danielson’s at the top of it.
He also spoke about the importance of being a black world champion, main-eventing pay-per-views.
You know, it’s also gratifying that there’s a black world champion in the main events of these things. It’s really tough see this style and this this stiff competition and this level that we’re at, and see a black man holding this [the AEW World Championship] and being in the face of that. It’s really rare and I don’t take it for granted. And I don’t pander. I’m just really fortunate. I’m happy and I’m ready to keep working.
