AEW Champ Swerve Strickland Explains How WWE Is About Time And Equity

While it now seems like it was always preordained that Swerve Strickland would become AEW World Champion, it was only within the last five years that Strickland was one of many bodies on WWE's "205 Live" roster as Isaiah "Swerve" Scott. That isn't lost on Strickland, who remarked during an appearance on "Bootleg Kev" that he may be the only person from that "205 Live" era to reach the status of a World Champion.

As for how he got there, Strickland credits the time he was given to develop his persona in AEW by owner Tony Khan, who he credits for trusting him from the day Khan first signed him. Strickland feels that time and equity is essential to developing into a star, especially in the case of someone trying to make it in WWE.

"You see a lot of guys who are main eventing over there now, they had a lot of time...But also, they [got to] build equity with the company, build time with them," Strickland said. "They get to grow. Drew McIntyre is a prime example of that. He was there, then got let go, then came back, and like 'Okay, now he has a lot more time and tenure. So now, he can grow with the audience, grow with the roster, grow with the staff, grow with the marketing team, departments.' All that stuff...

"With that place, it's just about time and equity and putting in...just building chemistry and trust within that organization. I just didn't have a lot of time there, and they didn't allow me a lot of time. If I would've, who knows what I would've been doing over there still. I don't know; maybe it wouldn't have gotten better, maybe it would've. But yeah, that's how the business works with these things."

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