Swerve Strickland is calling for more representation of black wrestling stories in Hollywood.
Since joining All Elite Wrestling, Strickland has made his mark, notably becoming the first black AEW World Champion at AEW Dynasty 2024. With that milestone, Strickland hopes to see more stories about black wrestlers and their journeys, particularly focusing on groundbreaking moments like the first black wrestling world champions.
In an interview with “Women’s Wrestling Talk” at the premiere of Queen of the Ring earlier this year, Strickland was asked which wrestling stories he’d like to see adapted for the big screen. He said,
“I’d love to see more stories about the first Black wrestling world champions, the struggles they faced, and how those moments shaped the industry. I’d also like to see more stories from the territory days—the real history behind those times. We’ve seen bits and pieces of it, like in The Iron Claw, but I don’t think the full picture has been shared. There’s a lot more we could dive into, especially for mainstream audiences.”
The April 30th episode of AEW Dynamite attracted 629,000 viewers on TBS. This marked an increase from the previous week’s viewership of 521,000 on April 23rd.
In the key 18 to 49 demographic, the show earned a 0.16 rating, up from a 0.14 demo rating on the April 23rd episode.
While AEW Dynamite ranked behind the NBA and NHL Playoffs on TNT and ESPN, as well as Fox News in the demo on cable, it was also simulcast on Max, though viewership data for the platform has not been disclosed.
In a recent post on Instagram, former AEW World Champion Hangman Page has a hard time guessing the correct answer in a game of Hangman.
Page guesses “Ivan Koloff,” but the correct answer is actually his own name.
You can watch the video below:
View this post on Instagram
