Swerve Strickland wants to dethrone MJF.
Swerve Strickland has gained plenty of momentum in recent months, as he has defeated Hangman Page twice. Strickland has often expressed his intent to win the AEW World Championship, which is currently held by MJF.
Speaking on ROAR Around The Ring, Strickland was asked whether he specifically wanted to face MJF or if he had his sights set on the gold, no matter who held the title.
“It’d be very interesting to go up against MJF. 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 said.
Strickland then referenced his confrontation with MJF on the December 20 episode of AEW Dynamite and noted that it was their first on-screen interaction since he joined the company. He stated that MJF had been ducking him for a reason.
"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, and that’s why I think that’d be a great opportunity for me to take the championship off of him specifically," Strickland said.
Strickland previously stated that he could do better than MJF as the AEW World Champion. Check out his comments here.
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