In an interview with Stephanie Holland of The Root, Swerve Strickland discussed his heel turn in AEW.
It began when he brutally took out Billy Gunn by attacking his hands. He had been a babyface and Tag Team Champions with Keith Lee before dropping the titles to The Acclaimed.
“It showed a different side of me…also it showed that I can be a dangerous person. There has to be a sense of danger. I showed the world that I can perform. Now I need to show the world that I’m actually a dangerous individual. Every time you step in the ring with me, or get around me, whether it’s a backstage promo, whether I’m by myself talking to the camera, there’s a sense there’s a fuse, and it’s really, really short. And there’s consequences to igniting that fuse.”
Strickland also offered insight into his approach to playing his character.
“I always survey the playing field of my character, other people’s characters, other people’s motivations, my motivation and the situation in the scenario I’m in. Then that’s where I really get to have a lot of fun and manipulate and play with certain things. I think that’s why people really dig a lot of my work in the ring as far as my persona, because I’m just taking and improvising with what I’m giving. I shift on what the crowd’s feeling.”