Swerve Strickland explains why he invaded the home of Adam “Hangman” Page.
The top AEW star spoke about this storyline angle during a recent interview with Chris Van Vilet, where he breaks down the psychology of the invasion and how it added additional layers to their already brewing rivalry. Swerve compares the way the angle was shot to horror classics like JAWS or Paranormal Activity.
I’m letting the people’s imagination run wild by not showing it. It’s almost like Blair Witch Project was so ahead of his time, because you didn’t see the ghosts you didn’t see, they didn’t show you anything. [Same with] JAWS, like the idea of just going to the water is now a fear of and causes a lot of anxiety to a lot of people go into the beach now. And there’s nothing out there. But the idea that something could be out there is your imagination. You’re letting the viewer really take hold, like Paranormal Activity. The first couple was like, the idea of something bumping and swaying you have no control of your life. It’s not the house. It’s the person, it’s haunted. You can’t control that. And then the boyfriend trying to like, like, I’m going to handle this because I’m the man of the house. I’m going to like, protect you. No, you can’t we have to do these things. I’m like, No, but I’m going to take care of the problem. You’re helpless. You can’t do anything. That’s a real fear of men. And like and just like that’s just like taking a paranormal viewing of it but real fears like not having control of your own life in your own situations.
Swerve and Page would clash in a Texas Deathmatch at AEW Full Gear, a brutal and bloody matchup that Swerve walked away victorious from.
Elsewhere in the interview Swerve spoke about his run in WWE NXT and why he was so frustrated during that time. You can read about that here.