AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland took the fans by surprise when he made an appearance at DEFY Wrestling without prior announcement.Â
On Friday, May 10, Strickland showed up at DEFY Here And Now. In a video clip that surfaced on social media, ‘Swerve’ delivered a passionate promo. He said that the Seattle-based promotion played a pivotal role in becoming successful. The Washinton-born wrestler further thanked DEFY Wrestling for providing the platform and said that they are “setting the tone” in the wrestling industry.Â
Strickland recalled his headlining match against Cody Rhodes at the inaugural DEFY show and gave a shoutout to ‘The American Nightmare.’ The former WWE wrestler then showered praise on the current members of DEFY roster and expressed his gratitude towards the promotion, where his career started to take off. Â
Swerve Strickland then thanked the fans for their support and revealed his gift to the fans – a free meet-and-greet session following the show. The segment ended with Strickland asking “Whose House?” as the fans responded: “Swerve’s House.”
AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland returned to #defyhereandnow and cut an incredible promo. pic.twitter.com/ZeOUXg0sHX
— GIFSkullX (@GIFSkullX) May 11, 2024
Strickland parted ways with DEFY wrestling in 2019 and went on to taste success in major promotions such as WWE and AEW. In the past, he has held the DEFY World Championship and has been one-half of the DEFY Tag Team Champions alongside Christopher Daniels.
Igniting a feud with Christian Cage
On this week’s edition of AEW Dynamite, Swerve Strickland was confronted by Christian Cage. They had a verbal exchange which ended in a massive betrayal for the champ. The Gates of Agony (Toa Linoa & Bishop Kaun) and Brian Cage turned on Strickland and launched a gruesome attack. This marks the dissolution of the Mogul Embassy. Â
With Christian Cage setting his sights on the AEW World Championship, Swerve Strickland now has a huge challenge at his hands.
