Nick Wayne is proud of Swerve Strickland, even though they're on opposite sides of a war.
Nick Wayne has plenty of history with AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland. They clashed at DEFY The Realest, where Wayne beat Strickland to win the DEFY World Championship. They faced off again in Wayne's AEW in-ring debut on the July 12, 2023, episode of AEW Dynamite. The two stars will face each other again on the May 22 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Speaking with Rick Ucchino for Cageside Seats, Nick Wayne discussed how he looked up to Swerve Strickland years ago.
“I would show up to the DEFY shows and he was there since day one. He was the main event at the first show and he would then go on to main event all the shows. Watching him [at] 14 years old, sneaking into these shows and watching him in the corner of the room, I ended up idolizing him. I saw what he was doing on the independents and everything that he’s achieved and where he was going. I was like, wow, this guy is awesome. I looked up to him, I wanted to be like him. I wanted to do the things that he did," Wayne said.
Nick Wayne then looked back on the first time that he faced Strickland and noted that it was surreal. Heading into their latest encounter, Strickland is now the face of AEW, while Wayne has aligned with his challenger at AEW Double or Nothing, Christian Cage. Wayne stated that he is proud of Swerve, but they are going into a war.
“Now, he’s the face of AEW. The AEW champion. He started in a new era in AEW. I’m proud of him. I congratulate him, but at the end of the day, Double or Nothing, we’re going into a war with Christian [Cage]. It’s all of us against him. We’re coming for blood, still. We’re coming for the world title," Wayne said.
Nick Wayne recently said that he wants to main event the Tokyo Dome. Check out his comments here.
Fightful will have coverage of AEW Dynamite as it airs on May 22, as well as a post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.
