It's a big night for Swerve Strickland this week on "AEW Dynamite," as he'll go one on one with Kenny Omega in a rematch from an instant classic the two had back in February. But this will be no ordinary rematch, as the winner will become the defacto #1 contender for MJF and his AEW Men's World Championship, and walk away with Omega's AEW Executive Vice Presidential power. The latter was a stipulation Strickland insisted on one week ago, as he looks to deprive Omega of EVP status the same way he did the Young Bucks last year at All In.In an interview with "WhatCulture Wrestling," Strickland was asked why he wanted Omega's EVP powers so badly. While the power aspect doesn't seem so bad for Strickland, his main motivation is to stack the odds in his favor when it comes to AEW Men's World Championship matches and prevent any outside forces from getting involved. Strickland feels both factors deprived of winning the title last year at Dynasty and Worlds End, where interference from the Young Bucks led directly to his defeat at the former, while the insertion of MJF into the Worlds End main event contributed to the latter."The EVP power is to control outside interferences, making sure nobody else can get into the way of my opportunities," Stirkcland said. "Like I said in the promo this past week, a #1 contendership means nothing without having power and control that comes with it. So having the #1 contendership, people can still get in the way of those things."So the EVP power is just to like give me the best advantage to block anything out, block anybody else from, like, not necessarily getting in my matches, but also blocking other EVPs from mixing up control and trying to sway things into their direction and their advantages. It's about control, that's what Swerve in 2026 is about."If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "WhatCulture Wrestling" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
