Swerve Strickland Reveals How John Cena Inspired His AEW Run

Swerve Strickland made headlines on Saturday night at AEW Full Gear when he made his triumphant return after being away for much of the fall, as he was recovering from a knee injury.

At Full Gear, Strickland made his intentions clear and has plans to track down the AEW World Championship, appearing on the show after the main event in which Samoa Joe defeated Adam Page to win the AEW Men's World Championship.

After the match, Joe and The Opps tried to attack Page, but Strickland walked out and put an end to it. Strickland and Page then cleared the ring of The Opps dojo and stood tall as the show went off the air.

Strickland has been in AEW since 2022. Prior to that, Strickland spent time in the WWE system, where he was a prominent figure in NXT, but was lost in the shuffle when he got called up to the main roster.

Strickland wasn't a top-level star in AEW when he arrived. He flirted with PPV events and television matches until he got a bigger opportunity as part of a tag team with Keith Lee. After that, Strickland says that he nearly got lost in the shuffle again.

Swerve Strickland Inspired By John Cena

In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Strickland detailed how John Cena inspired him to change his mindset in AEW. Strickland said that Paul Wight told him that John Cena always asked and then strived to give Vince McMahon what he wanted. It was that perspective that changed the AEW momentum for Strickland.

"So he (Wight) was just like, one thing that I've always respected about John Cena, he always brought Vince what he wanted. He always made sure Vince got what he wanted. I sat in Gorilla and watched him, where before he would go out there, he would say, 'Vince, what do you want?' And he would go out there and gave him exactly what he was looking for. He came back, and Vince was like, 'That's what I was looking for.'
Swerve Strickland

Strickland continued:

"I was like, You know what? Let me flip my mindset for like, always thinking, I know what the best thing is. Let me just find out. What does he (Tony) want? Tony, what are you looking for out of this? And if it's just a good match, cool, simple. You got it. Hey, Tony, what do you need out of this promo? I need these things. You got it. No bickering back and forth. And that's where I started building the trust with Tony."
Swerve Strickland

Strickland is a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion. Strickland revealed after the All In PPV this summer that he had been wrestling with a torn meniscus in his knee for over five years. He left AEW this summer to get the injury repaired.

AEW will return to PPV on December 27 with Worlds End. Strickland presumably will be on that card in some capacity, but official matches for the show have not been announced at this time.

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