Before AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland won the gold, his Texas Death Match against Hangman Adam Page at AEW Full Gear 2023 solidified his status as a top star.
Recently, while speaking on Rumble in the Morning, Swerve Strickland looked back on the brutal match. He described how he left a scar on Page, whereas others had simply left marks on Page. (H/t Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription)
“The fact that Hangman already had a Texas Death Match earlier that year with Jon Moxley at Revolution, which was wild and they killed it,” he said. “Then him with Bryan Danielson, the two times. Him and Kenny. He already had these great battles. Okay, where do I fit in with that? In my mind, I’m like, ‘Where do I put myself in this lineage that he’s already had?’ I have to be more sinister. I have to push further and dig deeper into who he is and what I’m willing to do to carve a piece of me into his skin that he can’t remove. Kenny and those guys, they left marks, but I left a scar. That’s what the entire intention was.”
Swerve Strickland On Fans Predicting What’s Next
During the same interview, Strickland described how, to him, it does not matter if people are predicting what happens next as long as they are invested.
“Have the people, not like the internet connected with me, but the actual people connect with the action, the motive, the characters on each side, and to truly go on this ride,” he said. “It’s not bad for fans to try and predict what happens next, as long as they know what’s happening now. The fans are like, ‘It’s them two again. Wait, he’s in the hallway. That means he’s here. They’re getting closer.’ They’re anticipating and trying to guess. When it goes a different way, they’re like, ‘We almost had it.’ Then, ‘Oh my God. Blood & Guts, they’re in the cage. Here is it.’ We have them right where we want them, for sure,” Swerve Strickland said.
Strickland is set for his biggest challenge yet at AEW All In. Strickland will be defending his championship against Bryan Danielson in a Title vs. Career Match.
What were your thoughts on the gruesome Death Match between Strickland and Adam Page?
