Swerve Strickland Comments On Racial Diversity In AEW

Diversity and representation in media are extremely important because audiences should see themselves in the films, television, and literature that they're consuming. This applies to professional wrestling as well. The industry still has plenty of room for improvement. And for Swerve Strickland, that was something he hoped to bring to All Elite Wrestling. During an appearance on "Say Less With Kaz, Lowkey, and Rosy," the Mogul Affiliates leader discussed the state of representation in AEW. Though the promotion had "little spurts of it" when it first started out, the former "WWE NXT" North American Champion felt he could bring more diversity to the company's weekly programming.

"I like to survey the landscape of no matter what I'm trying to jump into and I see where do I fit in," he said. "Where are the highs? Where are the lows? What are the gaps? What are they not getting enough of? What kind of archetypes of people [are there]? ... There's so many different ways to divide it, then divide it again into minute detail and I try to tap into those details that are so minute that everybody's missing it. That's what I felt like AEW was. I look at it as a playground."

Swerve also added that his new playground has fewer restrictions compared to his last one. Since AEW is a private company, he doesn't have to go through a "congress of people" to get things approved. That gives his talent a bit more freedom creatively, which is something that the former AEW World Tag Team Champion has no problem taking full advantage of.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Say Less With Kaz, Lowkey, and Rosy" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.