AEW champion Swerve Strickland makes surprise appearance at Defy show

With the AEW World Championship belt around his waist, Swerve Strickland returned home on Friday night. He made a surprise appearance at Defy Wrestling’s event in Seattle.

Defy Here and Now streamed live on YouTube from Seattle’s Washington Hall. During the show, Strickland’s music hit and he made his way out to the ring to thank the fans for the support they’ve given him.

“After going all the way out to St. Louis winning this AEW World Championship, there was only one place I was going to go to come celebrate — and that was here in Defy Wrestling,” Strickland told the fans. “There’s no other place like this in the world. I’ve been saying it since 2017 and I still mean that to this day. You guys are very special because y’all have something very special that not a lot of places have. Y’all can predict the future. Y’all set the tone for the rest of the independents of wrestling. Not only that, now y’all set the tone for the rest of the wrestling industry.”

Strickland pointed out that the main event of the first-ever Defy Wrestling show was him facing Cody Rhodes. Now, they’re the top champions in AEW and WWE.

“Shout out Cody because he believed in me too, just like I believed in him,” Strickland said. “And that’s what it takes to build places like this.”

Strickland is a former Defy World Champion, holding the title three times. He credited winning the title for starting his rise in pro wrestling.

“So with all that being said, I’m here just to simply come out here and say thank you,” Strickland said. “I’m not going to take too much more of the time because they got a lot of people back there ready to get out here and perform and also start their journey too. But my gift to you is, at the end of the show, I’ll be doing the meet-and-greet with every last one of you for free.”

Last month, Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to become the first Black wrestler to ever win the AEW men’s World Championship.

Strickland is defending the AEW World Championship against Christian Cage at Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on Sunday, May 26.

Tacoma, Washington is Strickland’s hometown.