Swerve Strickland: I Want To Take The Title Off MJF, There’s A Lot Of Personal Animosity

December 30, 2023

Swerve Strickland wants to be the one to take the world title from MJF.

Strickland has experienced a major rise up the ranks in AEW over the last year. A recent interaction with AEW World Champion MJF has left fans clamoring for an inevitable match. During a recent interview with ROAR Around The Ring, Strickland addressed wanting to dethrone MJF. (H/t Fightful for the transcription)

“It’d be very interesting to go up against MJF,” Strickland said. “He’s making history right now, the youngest champion, the longest-reigning champion who’s had an incredible year in the industry. There’s a lot more history with MJF than a lot of guys that I have on the roster. That’s someone I used to travel on the road with back in the day, literally spent hours driving throughout the night with. He used to be kind of like a young boy to me at the time.

“But now to see where he’s at in the industry, it’s something that I knew would happen with him eventually if he stuck to it, and of course, he’s blowing everything out of the water with what he’s doing. So that is someone specifically I would love to take the championship off of because a lot of people are like, ‘Who’s next? Who’s the next in line?’ If I’m the one that’s next in line to go after him while he has that championship, I want to definitely be the one to take that off him because there’s a lot of personal animosity.”

Strickland and MJF finally crossed paths on AEW Dynamite recently. This marked a first after nearly two years of Strickland being in the company.

“As you saw on AEW Dynamite, that was our first interaction after almost a year and a half, almost two years after me being in the company. There’s a reason for that. I feel like he was ducking me and dodging me. He’s been writing lists and all that stuff for a while. I’m like, well, you left my name off that list for a reason. I’m kind of someone he knows not to cross. That’s why I think that’d be a great opportunity for me to take the championship off of him specifically.”