Swerve Strickland on why he thinks of Will Ospreay as his little brother, the use of a flamethrower at AEW Double Or Nothing, how he’s grown since his NXT run, whether he’ll ever face Keith Lee

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Newsday interview with Swerve Strickland
Interviewer: Alfonso Castillo
Full interview available via Newsday.com

Swerve on some of the controversy surrounding the use of a flamethrower at Double or Nothing: “As long as it’s professional and it’s being handled the right way, I don’t see an issue with it. They would push the boundaries [during the Attitude Era]. I feel like it’s a different climate right now about safety and pushing boundaries on television in the world today. A lot of people are a little more cautious about things. I feel like, at AEW, we’re always going to get the reaction first, and then the emotional tie-in later . . . They’re going to react and say what’s on their mind, ‘Yada, yada, yada’ online. And the later on they’ll be like, ‘You know what? I did have fun. I didn’t expect that.’ And as long as I felt like if we provide something that they just don’t expect, I feel like we’re always going to be in a great position in wrestling world.”

Swerve on why he thinks of Will Ospreay as his little brother: “I’ve been wrestling him since he was about 19, 18-years-old when he was in the UK. I knew he was going to be something special before he even came to the States. I knew he had so much talent then . . . Now being here and on All Elite Wrestling in the United States, nationally televised product, it’s only going to get even more scary for like a lot of the roster in the upcoming years. But I’m here to show them that there’s still a lot to learn.”

Swerve on how he’s grown since wrestling in NXT: “From my time in NXT, I don’t feel like I had enough time to really flourish and showcase who I truly could have become. So AEW gave me the time, gave me the resources, gave me the opportunity, gave me the TV time, gave me the opponents, gave me the story, gave me the matches—all to improve in a very short time.”

Swerve on whether we’ll ever get that Keith Lee match: “That’s a question that’s above my head . . . I’ve always been available and ready. I’m not going to work towards it. I’m going to keep doing and push them forward doing bigger things. And we’ll see what comes on. We’ll see how things align.”

The story also includes a quote from MJW regarding Swerve being AEW’s first Black world champion.