AEW's Swerve Strickland Discusses Being 'Enthralled' With Bray Wyatt's Work In WWE

The late Bray Wyatt is fondly remembered for his captivating gimmicks in WWE. One current AEW star who was a big fan of Wyatt's work is Swerve Strickland. He briefly spoke about one of Wyatt's personas while appearing on the "Notsam Wrestling" podcast.

"I'm a big fan of — god rest his soul — Bray Wyatt's Fiend character," Strickland said. "I was enthralled with everything that he was doing."

Wyatt debuted his horror-inspired, supernatural Fiend character in 2019 after a run as a cult-like leader of The Wyatt Family. The gimmick ran until Wyatt was released by WWE in the summer of 2021. Wyatt would align with Uncle Howdy upon being re-signed by the promotion in 2022. Strickland recently said that Wyatt's spirit "powered" his Texas Death Match against "Hangman" Adam Page at Full Gear last month

Strickland continued by discussing the fear element in professional wrestling. While The Fiend was a fear-striking character, Strickland feels that "real fear is an actual person." He pointed out that documentaries such as Netflix's "Worst Roommate Ever" are so popular because real people are involved. Strickland became curious about how he could pull the "fear" factor off in pro wrestling. He mentioned attacking Nick Wayne at the Buddy Wayne Academy back in August. Strickland said the segment was "real fear" because he could leave Wayne "bloody" at the wrestling school his father created and leave without any consequences.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Notsam Wrestling" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.