AEW Star Swerve Strickland Discusses Inspirations Behind His Character

AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland has revealed the various inspirations from music and film that have influenced certain elements of his persona throughout his career. Strickland often changes his look on AEW television, using different colored gear, different hairstyles and multiple accessories like sunglasses or watches to add more details to his character. Speaking with "Z100 New York," Strickland named several artists within the hip-hop industry that influence what the audience watches him wear on television each week.

"Travis Scott was a huge influence, like huge influence on me. Tyler, the Creator, ASAP Rocky, a lot of these like these artists, these visual artists that take a lot of visuals and psychedelic type stuff and put in their visuals and stuff like Kid Cudi is big on that too ... I was like okay that's the sound how would that look on an individual, how would that look on a wrestler and that's where like the glasses and the hair, the look, the colors started really coming in."

Strickland continued by reflecting on his time in "WWE NXT," explaining how he wanted to discover fresh ways to stand out due to how stacked the roster was at that point. He also mentioned that as he earned more screen time, it allowed him to showcase certain details he picked up from movies or actors, specifically mentioning Wesley Snipes as someone who was a massive influence when he was on the developmental brand. Strickland also gave credit to current AEW star Malakai Black, who offered him the advice in "NXT" to change his look in order to get ahead of everybody else, which ultimately inspired him to create his own ideas. 

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Z100 New York" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.