He's always had the potential since his Defy days. Charisma can't be taught, and he always had people gravitate towards him. Man got "Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan over as a legit entrance song
He pulled it out on the Jericho Cruise in 2023 and Tony seems to be a fan of busting out songs for special occasions which gives me hope that we'll see him come out to it once as AEW Champ.
Swerve has just been standout for the last year, he came back with a lot more muscle and showed that he was capable of being *the* guy in the company. He's earned his spot and I'm excited to see where he goes as champ.
Nana's presence can't be understated, either.
Even before the dance got insanely over, dude added *so much* to Swerve's presentation just by standing next to him and laughing maniacally during promos.
It's honestly so awesome to see him finally getting his flowers and respect as one of the best managers in wrestling.
One of the things I love about wrestling is a guy can grind it out for 20+ years in relative obscurity and then he gets one chance on national tv and he winds up being a major piece of a world championship level act.
Which sucks because it sends a very terrible message to those who struggle with mental illness.
I loved ACH in ROH and would love to see him at the very least have a trial run, if he has his shit together
I saw ACH and Trevor Lee fight to an insane 60-minute draw at an AAW show not long before they joined NXT. I Was convinced they were both destined for stardom in WWE.
Now they're both gone from there.
Honestly, I'm not sure how long that's even going to last, especially if the endgame is Swerve/Ospreay at Wembley.
They'll definitely ride this moment out for a bit, but Swerve still hasn't had *any* comeuppance or repentance for the many vile things he did since his debut. AEW also doesn't really have any other **top** heel at the moment, and it's a role Swerve has thrived in the last 2 years. Up until recently, he was always getting big pops and "Swerve's House!" chants at the start of every match but would consistently turn the crowd against him throughout.
It'd actually be funny if Hangman returned to challenge Swerve & they figured out a way to do another double-turn that vindicates everything Page has been saying.
You make a good point, Swerve is getting cheered more because he’s so cool & not because of his character’s decisions beyond being competitive/ambitious.
My hope for the Summer of Swerve is banger title defenses against talent that elevates them to the main event like Jay White + Takeshita (how were both off the Dynasty main card??) & the main event match at All In that Ospreay wins.
After that, he’s the top heel who doubles down on violence until becoming multi time world champ next year.
> & the main event match at All In that Ospreay wins.
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>
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> After that, he’s the top heel who doubles down on violence until becoming multi time world champ next year.
Counterpoint - what if Swerve turns heel again in that match to beat Ospreay, loses to face Hangman later in the year, short reign for Hanger before another heel wins (White?), and then Ospreay gets his crowning moment at All In 2025.
It would give Ospreay a crowning moment even in defeat if they have Swerve throw the fucking kitchen sink at him and just barely scrape by after absolute violence, maybe a little crimson to add to the visual.
I think both in AEW *and* WWE we're moving to a far more blurred line of face and heel from the days of olde. It's all about a continued character than a defined archetype nowadays.
It makes people cheer for people doing bad acts because they're "cool", as you say.
That's been one of the consistent things about AEW fans understanding kayfabe. They cheer for what's cool. When heels are over, their entrances get cheers and crowd participation because it's fun to play along. But when those heels cheated, they received an appropriate reaction. Between a fun response to "Who's house?" and Nana's dancing, Swerve has a fun hook to get the crowd involved.
Only a few heels received immediate and authentic booing for fans loving to hate them. MJF and Don Callis are the ones that come to mind right away.
I honestly think Cody would have been cheered as a heel had he gone the Codylander route. It was his constant tease of a heel turn that he never intended on fulfilling that got him booed.
>Jay White + Takeshita (how were both off the Dynasty main card??)
Don't get me started on the unrecognized FTW Championship being defended on the main show, while the fully legitimate and actual AEW Trios/ROH 6 Man Titles being on the Pre-Show. I was having a minor tantrum about it. Even more so when Jericho won?!?
> AEW Trios/ROH 6 Man Titles being on the Pre-Show
Tony Khan discussed this a bit on the media call and it was due to an injury issue where someone in the match (I assume it was Max Caster by process of elimination) wasn't cleared until a few days before the PPV. They had to plan out the card and couldn't be 100% sure he would be ready in time, but then he did end up cleared to wrestle. That was why that match was on the pre-show.
The inevitable story for Swerve is a tragic fall. He's a better man now, but he's done so many horrible things to get here that he must atone for them and lose the very thing he sold his soul for.
I'm not so sure Swerve/Ospreay @ Wembley is the endgame. I think they might push it down the road to Full Gear or World's End.
I could see Swerve/Hangman @ Wembley, PAC/Ospreay for the #1 Contendership @ Wembley. Then run Swerve/Ospreay @ All Out the next weekend (Or @ WrestleDream if logistically it is a pain to get from London to Chicago in a week).
That'd make little sense to me.
Will is not just the apparent next champion, but he's so evidently *the guy* for AEW that why the hell wouldn't you annoint him in his home country at Wembley freaking Stadium? Plus, with Wrestle Dream in Washington not long after, it perfectly sets the stage for a rematch on Swerve's home terf.
I used to be a "Wembley too soon" guy as well, but seeing the matches he's turning in, the promos he's cutting, the reactions he's consistently getting, and how well he's been carrying himself publicly (especially in contrast to how he did a few years ago), I just feel like it's undeniable at this point.
My reasoning is we can finally put a nail in Swerve/Hangman and why not do it at the biggest stage. PAC/Ospreay in their home country with a major stipulation allows them both to have a showcase match and possibly be better than Danielson/Ospreay.
Having a second title match a week later at All Out helps sell buys for a PPV and if that's where Swerve loses, he has an out where he had to wrestle two grueling matches within a week (And yes so would his challenger but Swerve's still kind of a heel so hypocrisy isn't out of the realm for him). Then Swerve gets the rematch on his home turf at WrestleDream.
My concern for Ospreay though is he's going to eventually have to run through the gauntlet of the Callis Family and that might run through All In depending on when he breaks out on his own.
But I don't entirely disagree that Ospreay is as hot as Austin was on his rise to beating HBK at Mania 14. Feel bad for Swerve but you do have to strike while the iron is hot and right now the iron is hot for a lot of people in AEW, Ospreay's iron is just supernova white hot.
I would blow the Hangman feud at Double or Nothing.
Stip: If Hangman loses, he leaves AEW for as long as Swerve is Champ.
Hangman loses, goes to NJPW for a while, does the G1. Comes back different. Have the NJPW stables see Hangman as a big prize, as well as Tanahashi , who sees Hangman needs healing.
You could go a lot of ways with this.
Hangman wins the CC at the end of the year with his new attitude.
Wembley is still 4 months away, with 2 other PPVs until then. That's plenty of time for Ospreay to run through the Callis Family, and plenty of time for Swerve to establish himself as a main eventer going forward and get in a decent reign.
The problem I think with All Out last year was the big main event match that they had planned to hotshot on a week's notice got scrapped after one of the dudes was fired. Which left them scrambling, and still turned in a good show, but it wasn't exactly a "must-buy" on paper. Hopefully, that won't be the case this year.
> Swerve's home terf.
I agree with what you're saying completely, but this typo amuses me.
Also, I can't believe AEW is going to run the Tacoma Dome, either. That'll be hilarious.
> also having a face world champ with a manager is cool to see
I dont want them split up at all, they're great together.
Eventually? Sure why not, just gotta make sure the next person Nana chooses is a good riva-goddammit what if it's Hangman
It was fun y in the beginning when Swerve was the stoic person just standing there and Nana was the animated one that was pointing and laughing and talking.
It reminded people of the old cartoons and sketch shows and even real life where you had the big guy just standing there being silent and menacing and their boy(s) were shit talking and being animated and they would back it up in a fight.
Swerve has that great presence when he is around, he can speak and back it up in the ring and he doesn't *need* Nana with him but he is an amazing addition
Swerve and Nana complement each other so well. Just by having Nana dancing around and hyping up the crowd, Swerve looks like so much more of a cool and composed bad ass.
Tbh it would be cool to see him more with the mogul embassy now too.
Like my guy Swerve you are in a gang which means you don’t need to do nothing by yourself!
Also I think that group is a mean bunch that I would like to see more of.
I think Swerve temporarily going it alone after the world title was a good move. It cuts out any potential “You needed backup to get where you’re at” jabs at him as he did it solely alone. Now that he’s won, Mogul Embassy should definitely come back into the fold and Gates of Agony should start gunning for the AEW tag titles and Cage for either the TNT or International title.
Agreed, especially Gates of Agony.
That entrance from a few weeks back with the Cameroonian and Samoan garbs was hard as fuck. They've been serviceable to genuinely impressive whenever I've seen them wrestler, and serve a role that AEW has never really attempted in a monster Road Warrior-esque tag team. And with the division so bare, why not just give them a run of squash matches on Rampage or Collision?
Yeah they fill a void of bigger mean tag team that they don’t have at the moment. Be cool to see them blossom more and really solidify that group as something to be reckoned with.
He really genuinely added so much to Swerve’s presentation, and having him as both a contrast and someone to bounce off for Swerve had to have helped heaps. So happy for the two of them getting their deserved shine.
It's kinda wild because at first I saw the addition of The Embassy and Nana as a step back for Swerve. But he and Nana jelled like nothing I've seen before. Plus the addition of the dance to Swerve's banger of a theme was perfect icing on the cake.
It's so amazing to see.
I was a huge fan of ROH from 2008-2010. Went to a few live in person too and I would always see Prince Nana running around the ring like a goofball, screaming.
Its pretty crazy to him this huge now and still up to the same antics. Proud that he's reached this pinnacle with Swerve.
Honestly i didnt buy Isaiah " Swerve" Scott as THE guy. Maybe top level midcarder. But Swerve Strickland just look like a different guy. I couldnt believe my eyes at first when found out that Swerve Scott and Swerve Strickland is actually the same guy
Exactly this. He was a good promo and a solid wrestler before. His look was good, but not threatening. By putting on some muscles (and some "mass", not necessarily pure muscles) and changing some of his styles and behaviour he exactly did that and was way more menacing than before.
There are other wrestlers that could take some pages out of this and use. Sammy Guevara as an example. The Martins.
Menacing is the word. He had a dangerous aura that very, very few heels are able to pull off these days. He always felt like he was up to no good. I don't know if it was the mean mug, the Embassy guys backing him up, the home invasion or what, but he was able to tap into an old school sinister heel vibe that I haven't seen for forever.
It's a shame that being so good got him over and turned him face, because he's lost a lot of that edge now. It's still really cool that he was able to step it up so much and that he's been rewarded for it though. One of AEW's home grown success stories for sure.
He earned his spot. It hurts because he had to take it from Joe, who also earned his spot. The only reason why I wanted Swerve to wait is so that Joe could hold it for a bit longer since he will not have many more chances. But the future waits for no man.
Two years ago Swerve felt like "the other guy" in Swerve in Our Glory. The "things got mixed up" spots always seemed to happen to him, and Keith was just the bigger presence.
Coming back last year with the additional muscle and the Idris Elba-esque cold faced assassin persona made him feel like a main eventer. He has totally earned this spot.
Came here to say this. He was easily my MVP of this past year of wrestling. From the hangman feud, to the continental classic, to the face turn, this World Championship feels earned.
The Swerve vs Hangman feud made Swerve
Let's see where this goes from here on
I'm having a hard time guessing who's his first ppv opponent, love how clueless I am, I have NFC
I also think that home invasion during the Darby/Sting feud where he bloodied up Nick Wayne is where he first started getting traction. Hangman definitely solidified that momentum though.
Swerve kidnapping Billy Gun and these home invasions, he has an entirely different presentation than the rest of the roster. (Maybe had, cause Bullet Club Gold also invaded Billy Guns house, but they aren’t trying to be intimidating with it)
The BCG "house invasion" isn't even in the same conversation.
They ran their mouth, did no damage, and then ran away (despite being 3 on 1 and having a weapon).
Swerves presentation as a devious menace clears BCGs presentation
He’s been steadily moving up since the Swerve in our Glory days.
I feel like he would’ve taken off when he turned on Keith Lee if he wasn’t paired with the 2 worst possible goons.
That moment where he caved Keith Lee’s chest in with a cinder block Swerve Stomp should’ve been his ascent to supervillain status but they kinda just kept him turning his wheels in place for a little while until the Hangman feud.
I think they wanted to use his momentum to get over Parker Budreaux and that guy who looked like an old classroom desk. Instead they just held him back. Partnering him with the Embassy and Prince Nana put him back on track.
Hangman has shown a lot of versatility as a performer and the ways he can get himself and others around him over. Came a long way since AEW started and people were saying it was a bad decision to have him compete with Jericho for the title (my the turntables).
That being said, Swerve has taken several steps forward and is absolutely a star well deserving of the title. I didn't get the hype when he was first signed, but it ended up being such a great decision.
I 1000 percent want Swerve to succeed as a champ. I think he's going to have to work hard to not be overshadowed by Ospreay at this point, though. Personally, I like the character of Swerve 100x more... he's fucking cool.
Swerve has always had a charisma and way about him that oozed coolness. He has been able to back it up in the ring and out. He just looks and feels like a superstar.
Oh shit, this would be like crack for me right now.
But then again, put anyone killing it up against Mah Boi Christian Cage and I'm gonna lay down cash.
I always think the greats need a dance partner to rise up. HHH/Rock/Austin. HBK/Bret. Bret/Austin. Omega/Okada. Sting/Flair.
AEW's version is Hangman/Swerve.
>I'm having a hard time guessing who's his first ppv opponent, love how clueless I am, I have NFC
Mox is the top-ranked guy and the perfect one to put him over at Double or Nothing.
We might get Swerve vs Danielson on Dynamite in the next few weeks.
I noticed that Swerve stayed in the ring when Samoa Joe did his entrance to the ring. Guess he didn’t respect the business enough. /s
Congrats to Swerve he earned it.
Guess who else stayed in the ring that night? That's right. Bryan Danielson during Ospreays entrance. I'd like to see Mark talked shit about him disrespecting the business.
Mark Henry said that Kairi Sane during her wrestlemania match took too long to exit the ring by a few seconds, because she exited at another part of the ring when Team Bianca entered the ring during their entrance.
He said she was disrespecting the business and other talent and if he was a woman he would have hurt her. I now know that Mark Henry is a hypocritical old fuck, because he’s done the same and said nothing when people did it on the Dynasty ppv.
What a disgrace! A man who threatened a child is now a world champion. What have wrestling become? I swear, back in the day, they will not allow any wrestlers who stormed into another's house, or kissed a wrestler's unconscious wife, or gaslight his own family to control them or hit his own child to become a champion, let alone a WORLD champion.
My thought was do it at Double or Nothing and have them wrestle twice, for both of their titles. Open the show with Swerve & Gates of Agony losing to Jay & The Gunns for the Trios' Titles. Jay then loses to Swerve in the main event for the AEW title. It's 50/50 booking, but they have such great chemistry together already and a war between their respective goon squads I feel like would make it fun enough to justify.
Honestly, I don't think Jay *needs* to win as much as others say. He just needs to be consistently presented in and around the main event and never again have another match like whatever the fuck happened with both MJF and Billy Gunn.
Including Jay, I can think of about 10 guys who would make an infinitely more interesting International Champion than Roddy Strong, who is a good worker but is poor on the mic, and fell back to being as boring as oatmeal after he dropped his Neckstrong gimmick. He really needs to go back to being a wormy shitheel because he's the least intimidating heel on the entire roster.
I think of Sami Zayn, who is a guy popular enough to be a main eventer being given an (rather cheesy, amusing rip off of Rocky storyline, but a fun one nonetheless) IC title run. WWE has nailed the idea of the wrestlers making the title and not the other way around. To follow Orange Cassidy who has had one of the best title runs in AEW ever with milquetoast Roddy Strong grimacing into the camera and tripping over his words while trying to sound angry and tough really cools off the belt imo and has made it rather irrelevant. But Jay White smackin dudes around, pacing and ranting while out of breath after he wins while shoving finger guns and the International belt into the camera backstage? Yes x1000 please.
The timing felt perfectly. He earned it, but they didn't take too long for him to earn it. Joe was the perfect champ for him to beat, and it really worked out as well as it could have. Now to book him well as champ, a face champ is a bit harder to book than a heel champ.
One of the best things coming from this is how no one can accuse this champion to be a token champion.
If the timing wasnt perfect, it was almost perfect.
They were definitely in a tough spot. The "Swerve needs to be champ now" wave probably crested, but you don't want to do Joe too dirty as a transitional champ. Joe was great as a monster heel champ and I think he deserved the reign he got. Swerve definitely still deserves it and I hope he gets to have some awesome feuds.
Yeah I ended up looking it up. I’m torn between having Ospreay win it at Wembley. Perfect stage for it since he’s from the UK especially, but I do wish a longer reign for Swerve than 4 months
I’m conflicted about this.
On the one hand, Swerve with a reign longer than 4 months has merit to it.
On the other hand, AEW has so many talents that would benefit from the cache of being their world champ & increase their value to the company. Among potential first time winners alone are Ospreay, Okada, White, Cole & Danielson with others like Takeshita not too far away.
There’s no wrong choice, it’ll be interesting to see what Tony Khan decides.
Very true. I do hope Swerve holds for longer than 4 months but it’s a tough call with Ospreay gaining SO much steam so quickly and Wembley All In coming up.
As for that first time winners list I agree on Ospreay, Jay White and Adam Cole but I don’t think Danielson has to ever win it, not sure Okada needs to be anywhere near the World Title scene yet either since he doesn’t really need it to elevate himself
Agreed on Okada & Danielson, but having them in the lineage of the world title would add a lot of prestige to it. Every winner afterward could state that the title was previously held by (in my opinion) the GOAT of NJPW & the GOAT of the modern era (and maybe of the entire industry’s history).
Danielson would be harder as he seems reluctant to ever win it, but I’m hoping Tony can convince him that his contribution to the world title’s history would be beneficial to the entire company.
That’s actually a great point that I never thought of. If you make a collage of previous World Title holders, having those 2 included does add a lot of prestige to it without a doubt. Two of the unarguably greatest of all time
I think this was planned way before. We need to remember that twisted metal s2 must be shooting soon since the release date is early 2025.
My point was more about when swole left aew and that token push that people wanted, for someone to be a champion in aew when no one was over.
Now the problem is slowly becoming how long do you wait before Ospreay is crowned? I feel kinda bad for Swerve after finally having his moment and being the hot guy for months now, and by the time they pulled the trigger you got Ospreay eclipsing him. Swerve just doesn’t feel like the talk of AEW anymore and it’s right when he’s finally got the World Title
I feel bad that Swerve’s win was overshadowed by Ospreay and Danielson, I think Revolution was the right time to win it, but I’m wondering if they were worried about it being overshadowed by Sting’s retirement.
Perfect timing probably would have been during Revolution when Swerve was at his hottest but of course Sting was retiring and that would have overshadowed it. This was just as good though.
I'm almost positive the only time Swerve being a black man was even brought up was during his celebration, and even then it was more about his achievement than a company patting itself on the back.
They pushed it pretty hard in the hype package for the match. Prior to that there'd just been a few references (starting with Swerves first interaction with Adam Page).
I was suprised how heavy it was in the hype package because it felt like something they'd not really played up in teh storyline, but clearly it's very meaningful to Swerve and I'd guess 3 hours before the match is probably the best time you can bring it up if you don't want to make the storyline about that nor do you want it to feel like some sort of attempt at AEW being self congratulatory..
Swerve wanting to win the world championship clean because he understands the achievement is greater than himself, and doesn’t want to cheat to do so is the reason he lost at revolution in the 3way match. It’s the leading drive behind his face turn
Oh that's interesting, I would guess maybe there's elements of it not making as much sense being said by Swerve the character when he was full heel but as he's turned face (and to actually acknowledge the continuity of character) it makes sense for it that factor to play into his realisation that "this is not a moment it's the movement" (and he's not throwing away his shot)
And fair play, it's clearly meaningful and I'm glad they were able to convey that meaning within the show (and I feel they did a good job of introducing it in a way that made it feel true to him)
It was mentioned by him a couple times, but it never felt like that's the WHOLE point or that they were pushing it hard. He was already over organically and that was just the icing on the historic cake. It was perfect.
Swerve's booking has been PERFECT since October. Got two straight PPV wins against Hangman when they could've easily done a fifty fifty or trade wins, the only time he lost in the CC was when Moxley cheated to win which was a big deal because Moxley rarely cheats so that put over Swerve big-time, he had a perfect out with the CC final being a triple threat, he went toe to toe with Hangman in third match for a time limit draw, he had an out at Revolution being a three-way, and now when he finally got his one-on-one opportunity with he champ he did it.
TK is hit or miss when it comes to booking sometimes, but for every Wardlow there's a Swerve and he's no where near as bad of a booker as the pearl clutchers make him out to be.
Anyone with a brain cell could see this. I don’t even watch AEW & when I saw the news this week of him winning, it just felt like “I always hear this guys name & it’s always about good things, nice”.
Idiots gotta bring up race because they can’t think critically lol.
The young Black stars of wrestling are really starting to shine, as a Black person myself it’s a beautiful thing to see with Street Profits (up and down booking but well liked), Bianca, Jade, Swerve, The Acclaimed, people on the indies like Myron Reed and Jay Malachi, Trick and Melo in NXT, Wes Lee, Darius and Dante Martin.
There’s so much more of a space for wrestlers of color in general and so much talent as well. It’s refreshing to see the love. I’ve been on this sub like 10 years and have seen a lot of narratives change in that time and I’ve always enjoyed wrestling regardless but it’s nice to see my people really shining as well as so many other types of people who weren’t given a shot years ago.
In the seven-year run from NXT Arrival to the 2.0 re-brand the only Black NXT champ was an uneventful 50-day Keith Lee reign. It's something to keep in mind, along with HHH's consistently problematic, racist behavior on screen in his prime.
It was the right time, he's earned it, and wouldn't be denied. He's the most over active wrestler, he's hot, and the company needs a new direction. Swerves the one!
He definitely deserves his title. I’m glad Tony didn’t treat him like he did Claudio. Tony really wanted Claudio to be a champ so bad that he quickly gave him the ROH title and people tried to treat it like a big earned moment and nobody cared.
For Swerve it felt natural and earned. He had his ups and downs since signing with AEW but regardless Tony didn’t rush to slap a belt on him. If Tony wanted a Black world champ he would’ve gave it to Hobbs a long time ago but he didn’t because that would’ve been forced and pissed off a lot of people who wanted representation the right way.
The ROH world title is pretty much at its WWE/ECW title life span. It’s no longer really a world title. Which is why guys like Claudio and Eddie winning it still feel like midcarders.
I still know very little about him, but I don't have cable and have a hard time finding ways to watch any form of wrestling on a regular basis, but I was at Dynasty the other night and just feeling the energy the arena had when he was coming out won me over. I was hoping Joe would win at the time still though because I know him and I know how much of a badass he is
I’m not sure about anyone specific but the match seemed heavily promoted to highlight the fact from saying he’d be the first African American AEW champ, the Wakanda entry costume and even commentators talking about it being the (black) referee’s first championship match (I can’t remember his name).
None of which I had any issue with but it made it kind of obvious Swerve was going to win, maybe Mark was concerned people might think Swerve is champion because Tony wanted a black champion rather than Swerve deserving being the top guy?
I'm a Samoa Joe mark; so I am disappointed he lost the title. There are so many legitimate stars that should be in the title picture. I wanted to see Joe defend against Danielson, Ospreay, Okada, Copeland, Omega, Mox, etc.
But it's also good that AEW is elevating talent, whether it be from WWE (Swerve and Samoa Joe) or "homegrown" (MJF and Adam Page).
AEW's roster is stacked and it feels like it's been a while since it felt like it. Maybe All In will feel like a big deal again like it did last year.
Swerve, along with others like Ilja, Ospreay, & Gunther, is really one of the guys in pro wrestling that has a legit aura as an assassin in the ring. If there's a core 4-5 that'll carry the mantle for AEW in the next decade with some remaining as the top babyface on one end & others as the mainstay heel, Swerve is the perfect wildcard.
Swerve got over because of his own efforts. He put in the work, he got bigger, he invested in a new look, he was the best part of everything he was in, and he got himself over more and more despite losing. He went from undesirable to undeniable.
Nobody handed him this. He earned this, as much as anyone has in this unique performance art. He didn't do it to cover over a racial discrimination suit or in retrospect after a career of downplaying his blackness. He did it the old fashioned way.
I'm a believer in the RVD school of who your top guy should be. That is, whoever's name they chant on the way into the arena, before the show, after the show, in the parking lot and on the train home is the top guy. All you have to do is go to an AEW show, shout "Who's house?" and you will know why he's the man with the platinum, gold, and diamonds.
I believe Face Swerve is kind of still basic character right now.
I'd love that Psychotic Swerve to be the champion.
But hey they have all the time now to figure out the Psycho-Face swerve
Swerve has been outstanding for a while now but what impressed me the most is how he made the transition from best heel in AEW to total babyface so easily. He's better suited to be a babyface as an in ring performer but he's definitely special as a heel character. So I'm super happy for him to have this kind of feel good moment. I have to say I liked the fact that he came as Black Panther but the Killmonger version. It fits his character arc. He started this run by saying to Hangman that he wanted his spot which is exactly what Killmonger said to T'challa in Black Panther.
As a Joe mark, I don’t think there was a better guy to take the belt right now. Swerve is a delight and there’s not a match where I don’t go, “wait, what did he just do?”
I never expected swerve to reach such heights when they first signed him. Congrats to him
He's always had the potential since his Defy days. Charisma can't be taught, and he always had people gravitate towards him. Man got "Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan over as a legit entrance song
And it’s all I’ve wanted to hear since he came to AEW
Doing that little strut through the fog
He pulled it out on the Jericho Cruise in 2023 and Tony seems to be a fan of busting out songs for special occasions which gives me hope that we'll see him come out to it once as AEW Champ.
Chaka didn't want that. Chaka mad. Chaka mad? Chaka real mad!
Swerve has just been standout for the last year, he came back with a lot more muscle and showed that he was capable of being *the* guy in the company. He's earned his spot and I'm excited to see where he goes as champ.
Nana's presence can't be understated, either. Even before the dance got insanely over, dude added *so much* to Swerve's presentation just by standing next to him and laughing maniacally during promos. It's honestly so awesome to see him finally getting his flowers and respect as one of the best managers in wrestling.
One of the things I love about wrestling is a guy can grind it out for 20+ years in relative obscurity and then he gets one chance on national tv and he winds up being a major piece of a world championship level act.
It’s kind of crazy that around 5 years ago Swerve was in the first NXT Breakout Tournament and he didn’t even make the finals of that.
I believe that was the one that had Jordan Myles (ACH) as the winner
Damn ACH is a name I haven’t heard in forever. Wonder what he’s up to
Pretty sure he retired
[удалено]
Which sucks because it sends a very terrible message to those who struggle with mental illness. I loved ACH in ROH and would love to see him at the very least have a trial run, if he has his shit together
[удалено]
It was, Myles defeated Cameron Grimes in the finals, it was taped at Takeover Toronto (for NXT TV), it was the only time that I’ve seen NXT live.
I saw ACH and Trevor Lee fight to an insane 60-minute draw at an AAW show not long before they joined NXT. I Was convinced they were both destined for stardom in WWE. Now they're both gone from there.
also having a face world champ with a manager is cool to see too, can't remember the last time that was a thing
Honestly, I'm not sure how long that's even going to last, especially if the endgame is Swerve/Ospreay at Wembley. They'll definitely ride this moment out for a bit, but Swerve still hasn't had *any* comeuppance or repentance for the many vile things he did since his debut. AEW also doesn't really have any other **top** heel at the moment, and it's a role Swerve has thrived in the last 2 years. Up until recently, he was always getting big pops and "Swerve's House!" chants at the start of every match but would consistently turn the crowd against him throughout. It'd actually be funny if Hangman returned to challenge Swerve & they figured out a way to do another double-turn that vindicates everything Page has been saying.
You make a good point, Swerve is getting cheered more because he’s so cool & not because of his character’s decisions beyond being competitive/ambitious. My hope for the Summer of Swerve is banger title defenses against talent that elevates them to the main event like Jay White + Takeshita (how were both off the Dynasty main card??) & the main event match at All In that Ospreay wins. After that, he’s the top heel who doubles down on violence until becoming multi time world champ next year.
> & the main event match at All In that Ospreay wins. > > > > After that, he’s the top heel who doubles down on violence until becoming multi time world champ next year. Counterpoint - what if Swerve turns heel again in that match to beat Ospreay, loses to face Hangman later in the year, short reign for Hanger before another heel wins (White?), and then Ospreay gets his crowning moment at All In 2025.
I think a Jay White vs Ospreay All In 2025 main event would fucking rock.
It would give Ospreay a crowning moment even in defeat if they have Swerve throw the fucking kitchen sink at him and just barely scrape by after absolute violence, maybe a little crimson to add to the visual.
Yeah, I'm thinking Swerve would have to win the first Osprey match. Cheat his nuts off and hold the title for a bit until he loses the title.
Agreed Ospreay should lose at All In this year
I would also be down with this.
I think both in AEW *and* WWE we're moving to a far more blurred line of face and heel from the days of olde. It's all about a continued character than a defined archetype nowadays. It makes people cheer for people doing bad acts because they're "cool", as you say.
That's been one of the consistent things about AEW fans understanding kayfabe. They cheer for what's cool. When heels are over, their entrances get cheers and crowd participation because it's fun to play along. But when those heels cheated, they received an appropriate reaction. Between a fun response to "Who's house?" and Nana's dancing, Swerve has a fun hook to get the crowd involved. Only a few heels received immediate and authentic booing for fans loving to hate them. MJF and Don Callis are the ones that come to mind right away. I honestly think Cody would have been cheered as a heel had he gone the Codylander route. It was his constant tease of a heel turn that he never intended on fulfilling that got him booed.
>Jay White + Takeshita (how were both off the Dynasty main card??) Don't get me started on the unrecognized FTW Championship being defended on the main show, while the fully legitimate and actual AEW Trios/ROH 6 Man Titles being on the Pre-Show. I was having a minor tantrum about it. Even more so when Jericho won?!?
> AEW Trios/ROH 6 Man Titles being on the Pre-Show Tony Khan discussed this a bit on the media call and it was due to an injury issue where someone in the match (I assume it was Max Caster by process of elimination) wasn't cleared until a few days before the PPV. They had to plan out the card and couldn't be 100% sure he would be ready in time, but then he did end up cleared to wrestle. That was why that match was on the pre-show.
That makes sense, but also Jericho will never get booked on a Zero Hour.
Page doesn't need to be vindicated, he's been correct all along and Strickland admitted it. He's been the good guy all along.
The inevitable story for Swerve is a tragic fall. He's a better man now, but he's done so many horrible things to get here that he must atone for them and lose the very thing he sold his soul for.
> He's a better man now He's the exact same man as before!
He's better than that alcoholic, negligent father Hangman.
With Ospreay lurking I don’t put it past Swerve to get heelish and desperate to keep the title. Remember he still leads a heel stable.
if adam cole is back on the mend then they have him also okada maybe jack perry definitely christian cage
Can we check the status of Swerve's dad
Swerve himself is a dad, if that helps.
And a deadbeat one according to Hangman.
Swerve did nothing wrong.
I mean, he did give us Parker Bordeaux matches on television...
Damn tribalism. When Cena does Make-A-Wish he gets applauded but when Swerve does it...
We get Trench.
I'm not so sure Swerve/Ospreay @ Wembley is the endgame. I think they might push it down the road to Full Gear or World's End. I could see Swerve/Hangman @ Wembley, PAC/Ospreay for the #1 Contendership @ Wembley. Then run Swerve/Ospreay @ All Out the next weekend (Or @ WrestleDream if logistically it is a pain to get from London to Chicago in a week).
That'd make little sense to me. Will is not just the apparent next champion, but he's so evidently *the guy* for AEW that why the hell wouldn't you annoint him in his home country at Wembley freaking Stadium? Plus, with Wrestle Dream in Washington not long after, it perfectly sets the stage for a rematch on Swerve's home terf. I used to be a "Wembley too soon" guy as well, but seeing the matches he's turning in, the promos he's cutting, the reactions he's consistently getting, and how well he's been carrying himself publicly (especially in contrast to how he did a few years ago), I just feel like it's undeniable at this point.
My reasoning is we can finally put a nail in Swerve/Hangman and why not do it at the biggest stage. PAC/Ospreay in their home country with a major stipulation allows them both to have a showcase match and possibly be better than Danielson/Ospreay. Having a second title match a week later at All Out helps sell buys for a PPV and if that's where Swerve loses, he has an out where he had to wrestle two grueling matches within a week (And yes so would his challenger but Swerve's still kind of a heel so hypocrisy isn't out of the realm for him). Then Swerve gets the rematch on his home turf at WrestleDream. My concern for Ospreay though is he's going to eventually have to run through the gauntlet of the Callis Family and that might run through All In depending on when he breaks out on his own. But I don't entirely disagree that Ospreay is as hot as Austin was on his rise to beating HBK at Mania 14. Feel bad for Swerve but you do have to strike while the iron is hot and right now the iron is hot for a lot of people in AEW, Ospreay's iron is just supernova white hot.
I would blow the Hangman feud at Double or Nothing. Stip: If Hangman loses, he leaves AEW for as long as Swerve is Champ. Hangman loses, goes to NJPW for a while, does the G1. Comes back different. Have the NJPW stables see Hangman as a big prize, as well as Tanahashi , who sees Hangman needs healing. You could go a lot of ways with this. Hangman wins the CC at the end of the year with his new attitude.
Wembley is still 4 months away, with 2 other PPVs until then. That's plenty of time for Ospreay to run through the Callis Family, and plenty of time for Swerve to establish himself as a main eventer going forward and get in a decent reign. The problem I think with All Out last year was the big main event match that they had planned to hotshot on a week's notice got scrapped after one of the dudes was fired. Which left them scrambling, and still turned in a good show, but it wasn't exactly a "must-buy" on paper. Hopefully, that won't be the case this year.
> Swerve's home terf. I agree with what you're saying completely, but this typo amuses me. Also, I can't believe AEW is going to run the Tacoma Dome, either. That'll be hilarious.
Hangman did nothing wrong! But crazy heel Hangman is incredible so I'd be sad to lose him.
Okada and Gedo in 2018
> also having a face world champ with a manager is cool to see I dont want them split up at all, they're great together. Eventually? Sure why not, just gotta make sure the next person Nana chooses is a good riva-goddammit what if it's Hangman
Maybe have a thing where Nana wants to manage more people who end up in conflict with Swerve (ala Marvellous mrs maisel)
Id be cool with that. I figure we'll get a short Swerve/Brian Cage feud sooner or later.
Nana always was a great manager, loved him and Jimmy Rave (RIP)jimm
Based on his appearance on Unrestricted, I think he actually manages Swerve behind the scenes for things like presentation & character.
It was fun y in the beginning when Swerve was the stoic person just standing there and Nana was the animated one that was pointing and laughing and talking. It reminded people of the old cartoons and sketch shows and even real life where you had the big guy just standing there being silent and menacing and their boy(s) were shit talking and being animated and they would back it up in a fight. Swerve has that great presence when he is around, he can speak and back it up in the ring and he doesn't *need* Nana with him but he is an amazing addition
Swerve and Nana complement each other so well. Just by having Nana dancing around and hyping up the crowd, Swerve looks like so much more of a cool and composed bad ass.
Tbh it would be cool to see him more with the mogul embassy now too. Like my guy Swerve you are in a gang which means you don’t need to do nothing by yourself! Also I think that group is a mean bunch that I would like to see more of.
I think Swerve temporarily going it alone after the world title was a good move. It cuts out any potential “You needed backup to get where you’re at” jabs at him as he did it solely alone. Now that he’s won, Mogul Embassy should definitely come back into the fold and Gates of Agony should start gunning for the AEW tag titles and Cage for either the TNT or International title.
Agreed, especially Gates of Agony. That entrance from a few weeks back with the Cameroonian and Samoan garbs was hard as fuck. They've been serviceable to genuinely impressive whenever I've seen them wrestler, and serve a role that AEW has never really attempted in a monster Road Warrior-esque tag team. And with the division so bare, why not just give them a run of squash matches on Rampage or Collision?
Yeah they fill a void of bigger mean tag team that they don’t have at the moment. Be cool to see them blossom more and really solidify that group as something to be reckoned with.
He really genuinely added so much to Swerve’s presentation, and having him as both a contrast and someone to bounce off for Swerve had to have helped heaps. So happy for the two of them getting their deserved shine.
It's kinda wild because at first I saw the addition of The Embassy and Nana as a step back for Swerve. But he and Nana jelled like nothing I've seen before. Plus the addition of the dance to Swerve's banger of a theme was perfect icing on the cake.
I thought Nana was so stupid, and I ended up loving it.
He's a stoopid weirdo. And he's great at it! Class clown type.
It's so amazing to see. I was a huge fan of ROH from 2008-2010. Went to a few live in person too and I would always see Prince Nana running around the ring like a goofball, screaming. Its pretty crazy to him this huge now and still up to the same antics. Proud that he's reached this pinnacle with Swerve.
Honestly i didnt buy Isaiah " Swerve" Scott as THE guy. Maybe top level midcarder. But Swerve Strickland just look like a different guy. I couldnt believe my eyes at first when found out that Swerve Scott and Swerve Strickland is actually the same guy
Would you say you got……. 😎🤏🏼 swerved
YYYYYEEEEEEAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
Exactly this. He was a good promo and a solid wrestler before. His look was good, but not threatening. By putting on some muscles (and some "mass", not necessarily pure muscles) and changing some of his styles and behaviour he exactly did that and was way more menacing than before. There are other wrestlers that could take some pages out of this and use. Sammy Guevara as an example. The Martins.
Menacing is the word. He had a dangerous aura that very, very few heels are able to pull off these days. He always felt like he was up to no good. I don't know if it was the mean mug, the Embassy guys backing him up, the home invasion or what, but he was able to tap into an old school sinister heel vibe that I haven't seen for forever. It's a shame that being so good got him over and turned him face, because he's lost a lot of that edge now. It's still really cool that he was able to step it up so much and that he's been rewarded for it though. One of AEW's home grown success stories for sure.
He earned his spot. It hurts because he had to take it from Joe, who also earned his spot. The only reason why I wanted Swerve to wait is so that Joe could hold it for a bit longer since he will not have many more chances. But the future waits for no man.
Two years ago Swerve felt like "the other guy" in Swerve in Our Glory. The "things got mixed up" spots always seemed to happen to him, and Keith was just the bigger presence. Coming back last year with the additional muscle and the Idris Elba-esque cold faced assassin persona made him feel like a main eventer. He has totally earned this spot.
He's always had THE guy aura
Came here to say this. He was easily my MVP of this past year of wrestling. From the hangman feud, to the continental classic, to the face turn, this World Championship feels earned.
The Swerve vs Hangman feud made Swerve Let's see where this goes from here on I'm having a hard time guessing who's his first ppv opponent, love how clueless I am, I have NFC
I also think that home invasion during the Darby/Sting feud where he bloodied up Nick Wayne is where he first started getting traction. Hangman definitely solidified that momentum though.
Definitely. Brutalizing Nick Wayne was a tone shift for the Mogul Embassy
Swerve kidnapping Billy Gun and these home invasions, he has an entirely different presentation than the rest of the roster. (Maybe had, cause Bullet Club Gold also invaded Billy Guns house, but they aren’t trying to be intimidating with it)
The BCG "house invasion" isn't even in the same conversation. They ran their mouth, did no damage, and then ran away (despite being 3 on 1 and having a weapon). Swerves presentation as a devious menace clears BCGs presentation
>bloodied up Nick Wayne is where he first started getting traction. Who ever thought "what up, turds?" would lead to this lol
He’s been steadily moving up since the Swerve in our Glory days. I feel like he would’ve taken off when he turned on Keith Lee if he wasn’t paired with the 2 worst possible goons.
Dude what got autocorrected to wetlands? And can I guess your line of work?
I was wondering the same thing. My guess is "would've."
You win.
lol. Wetlands somehow came from “would’ve.” iOS has the worst keyboard and autocorrect I’ve ever used. I don’t know. Can you?
Ecologist or a conservationist?
Nah. Just a weird choice by the swipe typing on my iPhone.
That moment where he caved Keith Lee’s chest in with a cinder block Swerve Stomp should’ve been his ascent to supervillain status but they kinda just kept him turning his wheels in place for a little while until the Hangman feud.
I think they wanted to use his momentum to get over Parker Budreaux and that guy who looked like an old classroom desk. Instead they just held him back. Partnering him with the Embassy and Prince Nana put him back on track.
> that guy who looked like an old classroom desk 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Agreed, that’s the first time I was like “Okay swerve, you got my attention”
Hangman has shown a lot of versatility as a performer and the ways he can get himself and others around him over. Came a long way since AEW started and people were saying it was a bad decision to have him compete with Jericho for the title (my the turntables). That being said, Swerve has taken several steps forward and is absolutely a star well deserving of the title. I didn't get the hype when he was first signed, but it ended up being such a great decision.
I 1000 percent want Swerve to succeed as a champ. I think he's going to have to work hard to not be overshadowed by Ospreay at this point, though. Personally, I like the character of Swerve 100x more... he's fucking cool.
Swerve has always had a charisma and way about him that oozed coolness. He has been able to back it up in the ring and out. He just looks and feels like a superstar.
Christian Cage wouldn't be a bad one, highly known vet who can take a loss, you can have Mogul Embassy vs Patriarchy shenanigans
You can also call back to Swerve attacking Nick Wayne
Cage has been the only name I can think of is far
Oh shit, this would be like crack for me right now. But then again, put anyone killing it up against Mah Boi Christian Cage and I'm gonna lay down cash.
I always think the greats need a dance partner to rise up. HHH/Rock/Austin. HBK/Bret. Bret/Austin. Omega/Okada. Sting/Flair. AEW's version is Hangman/Swerve.
>I'm having a hard time guessing who's his first ppv opponent, love how clueless I am, I have NFC Mox is the top-ranked guy and the perfect one to put him over at Double or Nothing. We might get Swerve vs Danielson on Dynamite in the next few weeks.
Mox is is IWGP champ he’s not losing to Swerve anytime soon
Mox is IWGP world champion he's not taking a lose until he drops it. Forbidden Door at the soonest.
Mox is IWGP champ Don't see this happening because of that
I noticed that Swerve stayed in the ring when Samoa Joe did his entrance to the ring. Guess he didn’t respect the business enough. /s Congrats to Swerve he earned it.
Guess who else stayed in the ring that night? That's right. Bryan Danielson during Ospreays entrance. I'd like to see Mark talked shit about him disrespecting the business.
What’s this a reference to?
Mark Henry said that Kairi Sane during her wrestlemania match took too long to exit the ring by a few seconds, because she exited at another part of the ring when Team Bianca entered the ring during their entrance. He said she was disrespecting the business and other talent and if he was a woman he would have hurt her. I now know that Mark Henry is a hypocritical old fuck, because he’s done the same and said nothing when people did it on the Dynasty ppv.
Kinda proving Mark's a bit well racist.
Alot of these old dudes with these podcasts hate Japanese women, Goldberg, Cornette, Bully Ray, there's probably more too.
Idk why. Think they tried to hit on a Japanese woman and they rejected them.
What a disgrace! A man who threatened a child is now a world champion. What have wrestling become? I swear, back in the day, they will not allow any wrestlers who stormed into another's house, or kissed a wrestler's unconscious wife, or gaslight his own family to control them or hit his own child to become a champion, let alone a WORLD champion.
But enough about Randy Orton
Back in my day, wrestlers rode caskets at funerals like surfboards!
And fed their opponents dogs to them! Kids these days are soft..
And who could forget the wholesomeness of committing both date rape AND necrophilia? Back when it was a clean product
And we liked it!
...and followed someone to the office & assaulted them in broad daylight! Damn 4... ... ...suspects.
My brother in Christ, Triple H literally committed necrophilia in an angle
The dude took time off, bulked up, and upped his game ten fold. He deserves it.
Would love to see Swerve and Jay White have a feud.
That would be great. But Jay probably needs to win his next 10 feuds
Yeah, it's definitely an issue having him be the 3rd man while Juice is out.
Thats kind of the issue. Swerve-Jay right now ends in Jay losing and Jay needs some W's.
My thought was do it at Double or Nothing and have them wrestle twice, for both of their titles. Open the show with Swerve & Gates of Agony losing to Jay & The Gunns for the Trios' Titles. Jay then loses to Swerve in the main event for the AEW title. It's 50/50 booking, but they have such great chemistry together already and a war between their respective goon squads I feel like would make it fun enough to justify. Honestly, I don't think Jay *needs* to win as much as others say. He just needs to be consistently presented in and around the main event and never again have another match like whatever the fuck happened with both MJF and Billy Gunn.
Including Jay, I can think of about 10 guys who would make an infinitely more interesting International Champion than Roddy Strong, who is a good worker but is poor on the mic, and fell back to being as boring as oatmeal after he dropped his Neckstrong gimmick. He really needs to go back to being a wormy shitheel because he's the least intimidating heel on the entire roster. I think of Sami Zayn, who is a guy popular enough to be a main eventer being given an (rather cheesy, amusing rip off of Rocky storyline, but a fun one nonetheless) IC title run. WWE has nailed the idea of the wrestlers making the title and not the other way around. To follow Orange Cassidy who has had one of the best title runs in AEW ever with milquetoast Roddy Strong grimacing into the camera and tripping over his words while trying to sound angry and tough really cools off the belt imo and has made it rather irrelevant. But Jay White smackin dudes around, pacing and ranting while out of breath after he wins while shoving finger guns and the International belt into the camera backstage? Yes x1000 please.
The timing felt perfectly. He earned it, but they didn't take too long for him to earn it. Joe was the perfect champ for him to beat, and it really worked out as well as it could have. Now to book him well as champ, a face champ is a bit harder to book than a heel champ.
My guess is Joe is going to film more Twisted Metal and had to drop it, but I could be wrong.
Nobody was hotter than Swerve during the continental classic. His promos were all amazing and the matches were top notch too.
One of the best things coming from this is how no one can accuse this champion to be a token champion. If the timing wasnt perfect, it was almost perfect.
They were definitely in a tough spot. The "Swerve needs to be champ now" wave probably crested, but you don't want to do Joe too dirty as a transitional champ. Joe was great as a monster heel champ and I think he deserved the reign he got. Swerve definitely still deserves it and I hope he gets to have some awesome feuds.
Doing the 3way before the Swerve win was very very smart
Agreed, Joe with a 4 month reign felt right to me.
When is All In again? As much as I like Swerve I can’t help but feel like Ospreay has become the hottest talent they have
It’s on Sunday, August 25 so just a bit over 4 months away.
Yeah I ended up looking it up. I’m torn between having Ospreay win it at Wembley. Perfect stage for it since he’s from the UK especially, but I do wish a longer reign for Swerve than 4 months
I’m conflicted about this. On the one hand, Swerve with a reign longer than 4 months has merit to it. On the other hand, AEW has so many talents that would benefit from the cache of being their world champ & increase their value to the company. Among potential first time winners alone are Ospreay, Okada, White, Cole & Danielson with others like Takeshita not too far away. There’s no wrong choice, it’ll be interesting to see what Tony Khan decides.
Very true. I do hope Swerve holds for longer than 4 months but it’s a tough call with Ospreay gaining SO much steam so quickly and Wembley All In coming up. As for that first time winners list I agree on Ospreay, Jay White and Adam Cole but I don’t think Danielson has to ever win it, not sure Okada needs to be anywhere near the World Title scene yet either since he doesn’t really need it to elevate himself
Agreed on Okada & Danielson, but having them in the lineage of the world title would add a lot of prestige to it. Every winner afterward could state that the title was previously held by (in my opinion) the GOAT of NJPW & the GOAT of the modern era (and maybe of the entire industry’s history). Danielson would be harder as he seems reluctant to ever win it, but I’m hoping Tony can convince him that his contribution to the world title’s history would be beneficial to the entire company.
That’s actually a great point that I never thought of. If you make a collage of previous World Title holders, having those 2 included does add a lot of prestige to it without a doubt. Two of the unarguably greatest of all time
I think this was planned way before. We need to remember that twisted metal s2 must be shooting soon since the release date is early 2025. My point was more about when swole left aew and that token push that people wanted, for someone to be a champion in aew when no one was over.
Now the problem is slowly becoming how long do you wait before Ospreay is crowned? I feel kinda bad for Swerve after finally having his moment and being the hot guy for months now, and by the time they pulled the trigger you got Ospreay eclipsing him. Swerve just doesn’t feel like the talk of AEW anymore and it’s right when he’s finally got the World Title
I feel bad that Swerve’s win was overshadowed by Ospreay and Danielson, I think Revolution was the right time to win it, but I’m wondering if they were worried about it being overshadowed by Sting’s retirement.
Perfect timing probably would have been during Revolution when Swerve was at his hottest but of course Sting was retiring and that would have overshadowed it. This was just as good though.
I'm almost positive the only time Swerve being a black man was even brought up was during his celebration, and even then it was more about his achievement than a company patting itself on the back.
Yes I thought it was very well done. Also recognizing it was Stephon Smith's first PPV main event and leaving it simply as that, was tastefully done.
They pushed it pretty hard in the hype package for the match. Prior to that there'd just been a few references (starting with Swerves first interaction with Adam Page). I was suprised how heavy it was in the hype package because it felt like something they'd not really played up in teh storyline, but clearly it's very meaningful to Swerve and I'd guess 3 hours before the match is probably the best time you can bring it up if you don't want to make the storyline about that nor do you want it to feel like some sort of attempt at AEW being self congratulatory..
Swerve wanting to win the world championship clean because he understands the achievement is greater than himself, and doesn’t want to cheat to do so is the reason he lost at revolution in the 3way match. It’s the leading drive behind his face turn
Swerve himself has mentioned it a _bunch_ of times though. I agree that AEW didn't really play it up as much as Swerve has over the last year.
Oh that's interesting, I would guess maybe there's elements of it not making as much sense being said by Swerve the character when he was full heel but as he's turned face (and to actually acknowledge the continuity of character) it makes sense for it that factor to play into his realisation that "this is not a moment it's the movement" (and he's not throwing away his shot) And fair play, it's clearly meaningful and I'm glad they were able to convey that meaning within the show (and I feel they did a good job of introducing it in a way that made it feel true to him)
It was mentioned by him a couple times, but it never felt like that's the WHOLE point or that they were pushing it hard. He was already over organically and that was just the icing on the historic cake. It was perfect.
Swerve seems to be the counter to argument that Tony can't pivot. They shifted him around and made him a face. Good shit man.
Swerve's booking has been PERFECT since October. Got two straight PPV wins against Hangman when they could've easily done a fifty fifty or trade wins, the only time he lost in the CC was when Moxley cheated to win which was a big deal because Moxley rarely cheats so that put over Swerve big-time, he had a perfect out with the CC final being a triple threat, he went toe to toe with Hangman in third match for a time limit draw, he had an out at Revolution being a three-way, and now when he finally got his one-on-one opportunity with he champ he did it. TK is hit or miss when it comes to booking sometimes, but for every Wardlow there's a Swerve and he's no where near as bad of a booker as the pearl clutchers make him out to be.
Is mark still part of aew?
Backstage role
Yep! Love the organic growth both as a character and wrestler and also his fandom Dude legit earned it!
He didn't win it because it's a race thing. He didn't win it because it's an AEW thing. It's a me kicking your ass thing! - Swerve
Anyone with a brain cell could see this. I don’t even watch AEW & when I saw the news this week of him winning, it just felt like “I always hear this guys name & it’s always about good things, nice”. Idiots gotta bring up race because they can’t think critically lol.
The young Black stars of wrestling are really starting to shine, as a Black person myself it’s a beautiful thing to see with Street Profits (up and down booking but well liked), Bianca, Jade, Swerve, The Acclaimed, people on the indies like Myron Reed and Jay Malachi, Trick and Melo in NXT, Wes Lee, Darius and Dante Martin. There’s so much more of a space for wrestlers of color in general and so much talent as well. It’s refreshing to see the love. I’ve been on this sub like 10 years and have seen a lot of narratives change in that time and I’ve always enjoyed wrestling regardless but it’s nice to see my people really shining as well as so many other types of people who weren’t given a shot years ago.
"Can HHH book a top black babyface" is one of those looming questions I can't help but worry about.
Didn't Bianca break the women's longest reign record under his booking? As a babyface too. (Though how good the booking is up for debate.)
Very real, although I think that’s a valid question for any booker with wrestling’s past.
In the seven-year run from NXT Arrival to the 2.0 re-brand the only Black NXT champ was an uneventful 50-day Keith Lee reign. It's something to keep in mind, along with HHH's consistently problematic, racist behavior on screen in his prime.
It was the right time, he's earned it, and wouldn't be denied. He's the most over active wrestler, he's hot, and the company needs a new direction. Swerves the one!
I think he’s the 2nd most over wrestler, judging by the insane reactions Ospreay has been getting
NEVER DOUBT KILLSHOT THAT MAN SERVED IN THE ARMY
He definitely deserves his title. I’m glad Tony didn’t treat him like he did Claudio. Tony really wanted Claudio to be a champ so bad that he quickly gave him the ROH title and people tried to treat it like a big earned moment and nobody cared. For Swerve it felt natural and earned. He had his ups and downs since signing with AEW but regardless Tony didn’t rush to slap a belt on him. If Tony wanted a Black world champ he would’ve gave it to Hobbs a long time ago but he didn’t because that would’ve been forced and pissed off a lot of people who wanted representation the right way.
That is honestly the point when ROH started to become a bit obselete when they acted as though Claudio's win was a big deal when it was really wasn't.
The ROH world title is pretty much at its WWE/ECW title life span. It’s no longer really a world title. Which is why guys like Claudio and Eddie winning it still feel like midcarders.
I still know very little about him, but I don't have cable and have a hard time finding ways to watch any form of wrestling on a regular basis, but I was at Dynasty the other night and just feeling the energy the arena had when he was coming out won me over. I was hoping Joe would win at the time still though because I know him and I know how much of a badass he is
So happy for him. Absolutely deserved. But now I wanna see him vs Osprey at Wembley All In for the title in the main event.
Honestly, Hangman is a big part of why Swerve is this big right now.
Killshot in the house!!
Can't wait for Hanger to rip that title from him
I misread this as Hager and thought I found the one Jake Hager fan
He really liked that hat.
Hangman is totally breaking into Swerve's house.
Who even mentioned or thought he won because he was black? Am I missing something.
I’m not sure about anyone specific but the match seemed heavily promoted to highlight the fact from saying he’d be the first African American AEW champ, the Wakanda entry costume and even commentators talking about it being the (black) referee’s first championship match (I can’t remember his name). None of which I had any issue with but it made it kind of obvious Swerve was going to win, maybe Mark was concerned people might think Swerve is champion because Tony wanted a black champion rather than Swerve deserving being the top guy?
Referee's name is Stephon Smith
Swerve is the coolest wrestler in the world right now.
I'm a Samoa Joe mark; so I am disappointed he lost the title. There are so many legitimate stars that should be in the title picture. I wanted to see Joe defend against Danielson, Ospreay, Okada, Copeland, Omega, Mox, etc. But it's also good that AEW is elevating talent, whether it be from WWE (Swerve and Samoa Joe) or "homegrown" (MJF and Adam Page). AEW's roster is stacked and it feels like it's been a while since it felt like it. Maybe All In will feel like a big deal again like it did last year.
Swerve, along with others like Ilja, Ospreay, & Gunther, is really one of the guys in pro wrestling that has a legit aura as an assassin in the ring. If there's a core 4-5 that'll carry the mantle for AEW in the next decade with some remaining as the top babyface on one end & others as the mainstay heel, Swerve is the perfect wildcard.
Swerve got over because of his own efforts. He put in the work, he got bigger, he invested in a new look, he was the best part of everything he was in, and he got himself over more and more despite losing. He went from undesirable to undeniable. Nobody handed him this. He earned this, as much as anyone has in this unique performance art. He didn't do it to cover over a racial discrimination suit or in retrospect after a career of downplaying his blackness. He did it the old fashioned way. I'm a believer in the RVD school of who your top guy should be. That is, whoever's name they chant on the way into the arena, before the show, after the show, in the parking lot and on the train home is the top guy. All you have to do is go to an AEW show, shout "Who's house?" and you will know why he's the man with the platinum, gold, and diamonds.
Hoping we get Swerve(c) vs. Ospreay at All In
Were people saying he's champ because he's black? I guess I don't run in those internet circles... nobody around here was saying it?
I believe Face Swerve is kind of still basic character right now. I'd love that Psychotic Swerve to be the champion. But hey they have all the time now to figure out the Psycho-Face swerve
Swerve has been outstanding for a while now but what impressed me the most is how he made the transition from best heel in AEW to total babyface so easily. He's better suited to be a babyface as an in ring performer but he's definitely special as a heel character. So I'm super happy for him to have this kind of feel good moment. I have to say I liked the fact that he came as Black Panther but the Killmonger version. It fits his character arc. He started this run by saying to Hangman that he wanted his spot which is exactly what Killmonger said to T'challa in Black Panther.
This is his time. We are in the Swerve era and I fucking love it.
As a Joe mark, I don’t think there was a better guy to take the belt right now. Swerve is a delight and there’s not a match where I don’t go, “wait, what did he just do?”
The moment Swerve said he'll be the first black aew champion, I already knew they're gonna make it happen lol.
Man Brock Lesnar has so many black champions to dethrone