AEW star Swerve Strickland opens up about Roman Reigns’ popularity

AEW star Swerve Strickland just referenced Roman Reigns while talking about his recent run as one of the most popular stars on the promotion. He mentioned the Tribal Chief's popularity as the biggest heel in the industry.

The leader of The Mogul Embassy has been one of the hottest stars in All Elite Wrestling and has been over with the crowd. He has also had the performances to back the hype around him, as he stands as one of the potential contenders to Samoa Joe's AEW World Championship.

On his recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, Swerve Strickland talked about his recent popularity surge at WrestleDream in October. He then mentioned Roman Reigns and how the fans "acknowledge" him at every juncture despite being a heel.

Seeing as The Bloodline has not changed anything, he wanted to do the same to his gimmick and keep it going while he's popular amongst fans.

"If you look at Roman, he's the biggest heel in the business, but people 'acknowledge' him every city they go to and they bow down to him and they rise up when that music hits. So there's no real difference, it's like, he's still going to be him. He's not going to pivot to what he's doing. Paul Heyman is not going to pivot to what he's doing. Neither is Solo. So why should I? I'm gonna keep doing what I do." [0:36-1:00]

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AEW star Swerve Strickland talks about his WWE release

Swerve Strickland talked about how he felt regarding his previous WWE release in 2021.

While being on the Smooth Vega Podcast, Swerve talked about the day he was released from the Stamford-based promotion. He admitted that he was angry regarding the decision, and he wanted to prove that it was their loss. Looking back, this then became one of his motivations for his time now with AEW.

"The day I got let go, I was angry as hell. It was like 'no, I'm mad' and it's a chip on your shoulder mentality. Like, good luck finding another me. They're going to make money with or without me, that's cool, but they're not going to have another me ever again, and that's what I kind of want to create and build with an AEW."

He wanted to keep this going and continue to lead the promotion and prove that no one in the industry has someone like him.

"AEW is going to be able to flourish and reap the fruits of my labor. As we have a Swerve, that's something nobody else in the industry can say that."

It remains to be seen what plans Tony Khan has for him in the coming weeks.

Do you think Strickland will be the next AEW World Champion? Share your predictions in the comments section below!

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If you use any quotes from this article, please add a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.