Swerve Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to win the new AEW World Champion at the company’s most recent pay-per-view, Dynasty 2024, on Sunday night.Strickland is the 11th AEW World Champion and the first African American to hold the title.
In a historic moment, Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to become the 11th AEW World Champion. The 13-year veteran has held World Heavyweight Championships in Major League Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling, as well as worked for WWE, NJPW, and other promotions, according to Sportskeeda. However, this was his most significant victory.
Moments after his victory, Strickland joined the post-Dynasty media scrum to talk about becoming the first-ever black AEW World Champion, saying, “A ton of hard work went into this. Nothing was guaranteed at all. Nothing was handed out to me.”
“I had to do a lot of inner searching to figure out what I needed to change up, what I needed to improve, and have a lot of humility to be honest with myself and say, ‘Hey, you’re not great at here. You’re not the best at here.’ And figure it out and just work at it, no excuses, cause…in my culture, where I come from, we’re not awarded excuses. Excuses get us nowhere or killed. And I want to stay alive. I want to keep pushing. I have so many things to fight for, so many people to fight for. And that’s what drives me every day,” Strickland said, per Wrestling Inc.
The titleholder took pride in heading the AEW “dynasty” and referred to himself as the “face of the franchise,” in addition to achieving his goal.
Strickland was asked about the message he wanted his title win to convey to black fans, especially children who witnessed it. He responded that anything is achievable if you are ready to work hard.
During an interview with Pro Wrestling Bits’ Alfred Konuwa this week, former world champion Booker T discussed Strickland’s significant victory.
He declared his admiration for the champion, saying, “I’m a big fan of Swerve Strickland, man. I saw him in the airport a couple of months ago, and him, and I networked a little bit then. But to see Swerve Strickland become the first black champion over in AEW is really, really, really awesome. I was listening to him talk just this morning about how Kofi Kingston just won it [World Title] not too long ago, and now he’s winning it.”