Swerve Strickland recently spoke with The Cruz Show for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion (see video below), the former AEW World Champion gave his take on celebrities in wrestling, as well as changing contract-related trends in the business.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts. Also embedded below is a complete video archive of the discussion.
On celebrities in wrestling: “There’s a time and a place for it for sure. There’s a time and a place for it. Once again, it always comes back to the connection to the fan base. How much have you connected with the fan base to warrant your level of involvement said space in the wrestling. That’s all I was going to tell you. You always got to listen to the fan base. Like they’re going to tell you like what they’re receiving. Well, it’s like, they’re like, they’re like children. They cry when they don’t- they’re getting something. Or they’re going to cry when they want something and then you feed it to them. They’re going to be like, ‘Oh, that satisfied me.’ You answer what I was. It’s the same, same way. They’re going to tell you when something’s like, they don’t like it or it’s not- they’re not digesting it well.”
On wrestlers hurting their momentum by signing contracts before mastering their craft: “Wrestling now is a different world than when I was coming up. I still had to get DVDs and shop my stuff- send emails to promoters and all that, now it’s like you can go viral and be on TV or getting a contract just from going viral. I think everybody’s getting contracts before they master their craft first, and that’s killing their growth. Before you get the audience, the likes, the clicks, the retweets… you’ve got to grind it out first. You’ve got to hone in on your craft first. You’ve got to suffer. Because as quick as you get it is as quick as you’ll lose it if you’re not good enough and experienced enough to keep carrying it. So master the craft first.”
