Swerve Strickland Compares His AEW Dynasty World Title Win To Kofimania In WWE

History was made at Dynasty on April 21 as Swerve Strickland became AEW’s first Black World Champion. Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to win the gold in the show’s main event, which many fans have called the dawn of a new era in AEW. Strickland has been very open about wanting to be the first Black AEW World Champion in order to show people that you can achieve whatever you set your mind to, no matter what color skin you have. During the AEW Dynasty post-show media scrum, Strickland credited WWE Superstar Kofi Kingston’s win at WrestleMania 35 as an example of what kept him motivated. 

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“Last five years, [that] was one of probably one of the most biggest, inspirational things you’ve ever seen, not just in Black history but wrestling history period,” Strickland said. “That’s motivating, that’s inspiring, and that makes me want to like — I want to do that for the next generation. I don’t want to just do it once; I want to do it multiple times. The fact that I was able to somewhat try to recreate a feeling like that in just a small amount of time, not like 20 years later, not 15, 30, 40 years later, but like that close in time, that’s progress in my opinion.”

The AEW World Champion credited the people close to him for keeping him on the straight and narrow, ensuring that he was always focused on his ultimate goal. He also thanked AEW President Tony Khan for trusting him and providing so many opportunities, both big and small.

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