Swerve Strickland was a success story waiting to happen for years before finding success in AEW, becoming the first Black African-American world champion in the promotion. However, Strickland believes that pro wrestling needs to continue to evolve and that he needs to be surpassed one day as well, but has already identified an NXT hopeful as the one who will compete for his spot in the industry.
"I'm always in favor of the next guys; always," Strickland explained during an interview on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet." "He's supposed to be [better than me], he's supposed to be! That's how evolution works! It's not an insult to say Je'Von Evans is better than Swerve!" The AEW star then admitted that Je'Von Evans is better at 21 than he was at 30. "He's going to be terrifying! Like, he's going to be scary in the next three years!"
Strickland can take a modicum of credit, alongside his fellow Black stars of the 2010s independent scene.
"Who was [Je'von] watching? He was watching myself," Strickland boasted. "He's told me to my face: he's watched guys like Lio Rush and myself, and he took it to the next level."
According to Strickland, he and Ricochet did the same things growing up, watching guys like Rey Mysterio and evolving from them.
"I have all these other intangibles that makes me, me. I can't wait to find the intangibles that he finds that make Je'Von, Je'Von." Strickland again admitted that Evans is better than him and also jokingly added that he's taller too. "We shouldn't be trying to pull the generation backwards. We should be trying to push it forward again."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
