Swerve Strickland on AEW WrestleDream return: Fans will see the ‘next evolution of me’

Swerve Strickland is ready to make his return to AEW programming.

In his hometown of Tacoma this Saturday, Strickland will appear at AEW WrestleDream. He’s been away from AEW since losing to Hangman Page in an unsanctioned steel cage match last month at All Out. While being interviewed by No-Contest Wrestling, Strickland discussed his impending return and teased that there are a lot of different things he could address at WrestleDream.

Strickland said he could look backward and talk about his losses to Bryan Danielson and Page. He could discuss MVP trying to recruit him. He could address where things stand between him and Prince Nana. Or he could speak about his new AEW contract and what’s going on with his business.

“There’s just a lot of different things I have on my mind that I can express and go a bunch of different ways,” Strickland said. “This isn’t just like a ‘talking segment.’ No, this is me really conveying like new news. Like me personally, my businesses outside of this. ‘The Mogul’ is not just a name I gave myself, this is truly what I am and who I am. And now we get to see where we go forward and what we address in the now.”

No matter what Strickland decides to talk about, we’ll be seeing a new evolution of his character starting with WrestleDream.

“You can always expect my next evolution of me,” Strickland said. “In any sense, in the subtleties. Like, maybe my hair is different. Maybe my look is different. Maybe you’ll just — something is different. You’ll feel something different in the air. And that’s something I always love bringing to the table. Like, you don’t know what to expect. And that’s the beauty of it. That’s the beauty of who I am, and what I do, and what I offer. Like, even Tony Khan doesn’t know what to expect. He just says, ‘Show up to work and here’s what you got.’ And I’m like, ‘Ok, cool.’ But he knows I can make it happen.

“That’s kind of the imprint I have on the show right now, and I love it. I love it. I worked really hard to gain that. And I was patient too. I took a long time, I was patient. I didn’t rush into it. I was like, ‘Let’s see how the landscape takes course. And I will find my way and adapt into that.’ And then, now, people are anticipating a return of who I am and what I have to bring and what’s different, what’s new, and what old things I’m going to address.”

Strickland was AEW World Champion prior to dropping the title to Danielson at All In 2024.

When MVP debuted for AEW two weeks ago, he blamed Prince Nana for Strickland’s recent losses and said he wants to talk business with Strickland. MVP and Shelton Benjamin are both now in AEW, and it appears that Bobby Lashley will be joining them in the company shortly.

The Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington is hosting Saturday’s WrestleDream pay-per-view. The main card has a start time of 8 p.m. Eastern.