Swerve Strickland purchases his childhood home
Swerve Strickland has accomplished a lifelong goal.
In a video AEW posted on Wednesday, Strickland revealed that he recently purchased his childhood home. The former AEW World Champion was born in Tacoma, Washington, but traveled frequently due to his family being in the military.
Strickland says that when he was younger, his family fell on hard times and the bank foreclosed on their property. He’d always wanted to purchase it back for his family, and now he has.
“This place meant a lot to me. I remember the parties my mom used to throw, me and my mom and my dad. Family reunions, cookouts, family fights, family celebrations, all of it. All that happened right here. This is where I learned to take my first couple steps,” Strickland says in the video.
“My little sister was born. Things got a little tough. Property got foreclosed on and we couldn’t get it back. Had to move out altogether. I’ll never forget the look on my mom’s face that day when we had to move.”
“That day forward, I made a promise to myself that no matter what I was going to do, what I was going to pursue in life, I was going to work my hardest. Whatever passion I was going to fall into, I was going to be the best at that. I was going to work my ass off. One day, become successful enough to buy back this property. As of last week, at All In in Wembley Stadium in London, I signed my All Elite Wrestling contract extension. With that bonus money, I gave it to one man trustworthy enough to make the magic happen and here we are with the deed to the house.”
Our own Dave Meltzer wrote about Strickland’s AEW contract in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer wrote that Strickland’s deal doesn’t expire until 2029 and makes him one of the top-paid performers in the industry, although still at a level below Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, or Randy Orton.
“It was well known that WWE tried to make a play for the Strickland & Prince Nana act. The deal was reportedly agreed to a few weeks back but they saved the announcement for here. People were talking about how Strickland has become a rich man with the new deal, and it’s believed to be among the biggest deals in pro wrestling,” Meltzer wrote.
Meltzer continued to say that Strickland’s deal is likely in the same range as Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Mone’s.
“It’s probably in the range of the Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Mone range based on what were hinted about regarding those deals (which are lower numbers than have been reported elsewhere–this deal is not at the numbers of what was reported for either of those two deals).”