June 24, 2025 • 24 mins
Swerve Strickland joins us ahead of AEW in Kent and the road to All In Texas, and he does NOT hold back. We talk about the cultural impact of AEW Grand Slam in Arena México, his intense rivalry with Will Ospreay, and whether Hangman Page is ready to dethrone Moxley! Plus, Swerve shares how it feels to have fans clamoring for his Reebok collab and drops some advice for recently released free agents eyeing AEW.
🎟️ Don’t miss AEW Collision this week in Kent at the ShoWare Center! Tickets at AEWTix.com
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🎟️ Don’t miss AEW Collision this week in Kent at the ShoWare Center! Tickets at AEWTix.com
👇 Hit that SUBSCRIBE button for more exclusive AEW interviews!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the battle Ground Podcast, dat.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You'll play.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
And exclusive interviews with some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Stop seeing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
What's up you guys.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Welcome back into iHeartRadio's official wrestling podcast, the Battleground Podcast.
It is battle from one O two point five, kz
Okay and uh ae W has got not one, not two,
but three big shows starting tomorrow with Collision in Kent
at the Showwear Center. Tickets, by the way, still available
at ae W ticks dot com That is ae W
(00:45):
t i x dot com. And on the show today,
a guy who is no stranger to the show give
it up for the one the only swerve Strickland.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
He know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Man.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
It is a it is an honor and a privilege
to get your beat here on the show. And let's
let's talk about it real quick because I want to
go into this. This week, aw's Grand Slam Show in Arena, Mexico,
big cultural moment for fans who have never experienced that atmosphere.
Can you describe what it felt like to wrestle in
one of the most legendary venues in pro wrestling history.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
It felt as honestly as remarkable as the fans allowed
us to feel it, you know what I mean. It's
like the fans made it so much more of a
big monumental moment than we even like expected it to be.
You know, I don't think any of the performers on
the show, like who were either a part of all
(01:42):
the wrestling or CMLO, were expecting the great reception from
the fan base as we got.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
You know, they took it over their edge.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
They made the show so much more enjoyable from not
only just the people in the arena, but it made
it enjoyable for the people watching at home that were
literally like night and glue didn't glued to the action,
glued to the atmosphere the fan base. Seeing Mistico get
the reception that he got, you know, in the match
with MJF was like unworldly and it made you appreciate
(02:12):
the superstars so much more.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
It made you appreciate the moment that much more.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
And then just hearing the reception and everybody's takes and
what everybody was saying about the event afterwards, after watching
and enjoying it, you know, it made us like really
appreciate being able to perform the arena that much more
because as much as it's great for us, the performers,
how much it means to us, It means that much
(02:37):
more for the fans to really appreciate and understand the
meaning and the moment that we created. We'll all eat
Wrestling and CMLA doing world doing what we did, you know,
doing the Grand Slam like that.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, And I was texting buddies. I was like, you
guys have got to turn this on right now. This
is incredible. Yeah, we got it. We got another paper
review quality match on you know, matches on the on
Freak TV.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So just incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So you know something that you probably you know, probably
not your favorite subject, but Hangman Adam Page. You know,
he gave a very passionate, whatever you wanna call it
speech a Grand Slam in Spanish. No less, is Hangman
the right man for the job heading end all in?
Do you think he's the right man to kind of
dethrone Mocksley? And would it be obvious to assume that,
(03:29):
you know, you would have a target out for him
if he becomes the world champion next.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Honestly, he was the right man for the job regardless
if I was going to be world champion going into
all In or if it was going to be John Moxley.
It was always like he was always going to be
the right man, you know what I mean, like always,
like as much as like we have the history between
me and him as people more so just competitors, as
(03:54):
just man to man, he was always the right guy
for this whole situation, which is why I went at
him in the first place, you know, after like like
nothing about his position and the company has ever changed.
And that's the point that I made when I first
like went at him after all out, after he won
the Battle Royal, the charity Battle Royal, and after all
(04:17):
Out on the Dynamite, I literally came at him and
I said, like, dude, why are you in this position?
We know who you are, and we know who you're
capable of, and if you're not, if you don't think
you're good enough for that anymore, move out of the
way and I'm going to take that seat, you know,
like I as much as it was me coming at
him and ah, you know, difficult as a challenging position,
(04:42):
it was me acknowledging the fact that he is that guy.
He's always been that guy. He's always been the main
character of bal Lee Wrestling which is why I came
at him in the first place. You know, So him
being in a position to open the show like doing
an entire five minute plus promo in Spanish and the
home countries like language, that shows the respect that he
(05:03):
has for the fan base, and that also shows that
all the wrestling still puts him as the guy to
introduce us and to start the show off with that
type of like, we're not here to take over your company.
We're here to be guests in your home in Arena Mexico.
We're being guests of CMLL, and we just want you
(05:24):
to know we appreciate that. And it's the person that's
going to be the spokesperson to literally do that handshake
agreement to begin the show. You know, we're here at appreciative.
You know, he's always been that guy, you know, regardless
how I feel about it personally or you know, and
like as a competitor, he's always been that guy. And
(05:46):
that's once again from day one today, you know, almost
three hundred episodes of Dynamite we're about to have he's
always been that guy.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yeah, and you know, when companies work together and it's
not a takeover situation, that's that's a breath of fresh air.
You know, that's always good to see.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
So yes, absolutely, and something also that you know, me
and Eli have talked about this, and I will tell
you that I am a big shoe junkie and I
was gonna hit you up before this show because up
until this morning, size ten and a half and your
shoes were sold out, so I was gonna see if
you could like pull some strings. But now Champs finally
has a ten and a half back up on the website,
(06:23):
so I'll be ordering some of those soon.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
What's it been like to just kind of watch this?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
I mean you have not one but two signature shoes,
one from somewhere previous now with th Reebok as well,
so you have two signature shoes. What's it been like
watching this kind of demand and cultural response? And is
there talks of future collapse? Maybe we can get some
Swerve pumps or maybe a full apparel line because I
know there's a shirt and a hat that goes with
(06:48):
the shoes as well.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Now, yeah, it was something that al Lei Wrestling always
wanted to capitalize on. With me, the one that was
previous was going to be personalized one by a friend
of mine, mad Sho has his own brand. He did
collaborative shoes with like Odell Beckham Junior with Davonte Ya,
Justin Jefferson and Stefan Diggs. He's big in the NFL,
(07:11):
you know, in the world, and he also has golf
shoes now too. That was about to be something that
we were going to partner and like really sign off
do something bigger with, but All Lead Wrestling really they
were like, all right, you can you have the option
to do this, or we have the option to do
this and really blow this up and keep it under
the All Lead Wrestling umbrella and truly reach out to
(07:33):
the connections that we have, but not only just make
this just your thing, but a true partner and collaborative
brand and reaching out Reebok adding on Alan Iverson, who
collaborated and posted and gave the thumbs up for this
sneaker was something I couldn't.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Pass up, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
So that was something I had to put all my
efforts and energy with and just my branding, you know,
so especially with Reebok, with Shaq and Iverson coming together
to rebrand Rebock in a different way, different new light.
In twenty twenty five, you know, they got a documentary
on Netflix about that whole thing. Right now, Angel reached
(08:12):
from the w NBA getting her first signature shoot with
Reebok's like, man, that's a team that I want to
be a part of, you know and even want to
venture into the pro wrestling world with, you know, Swerve
and know the brand. And that shows the impact that
I have being here in Allie Wrestling. And it wasn't
just by, It wasn't just me. It was all Lee Wrestling,
(08:35):
Tony Kahan, you know, Linda and Chris Peck and a
lot of these guys like Kosha that came together to
really put their best foot forward to make sure that
this came out as success. We wanted to come out
the gate with us success at bona Fide, guaranteed success
with Champs And just like by noon o'clock Eastern time,
I believe it was just on the day of the release,
(08:56):
there was seven hundred shoes sold and making a number
one on Champs Sports. So estamates to just the team,
the branding, the belief in me from Reebok, the belief
in me from Alan Iverson to even want to like
post about it on his ig and the video and
all that stuff. He said, he was blown away about
the whole thing. And that's the estamates of the fan
(09:16):
base of All Leap Wrestling still continue to purchase these
shoes to keep having to like restock and have to
refresh the shoe. And then you're seeing the shoe go on.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Stock X for about eight hundred dollars overseas. Yeah, like
it felt like a moment in time. It's like wow, Like.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
It really makes me and the people believe that I
am the franchise of All Leap Wrestling.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
You know, yeah for sure.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
And like I told Eli, like when they went on sale,
it was very difficult to get him. And then, like
you said, I saw the price rise up on stock
because I was like, maybe I'll wait for a restock.
And then when I go look, ten and a half
sold out. I normally wear ten and a half or eleven.
And I was like, we sit there yesterday as we
were prepping for the show, and I was like, well,
maybe Swerve could pull some strings and I could like
give him my credit card to get a ten and
(10:01):
a half. But all of a sudden, Champs put more
up there today because obviously people are wanting the shoes,
and it's got to be a cool thing for you
to see when people are posting that they're buying buying
your shoes, or you show up at an aw show
and there's going to be some kid wearing your shoes
or an adult wearing your shoes.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
It was the same effect that Alan Iverson had his
shoes first came out in the NBA in like two thousand.
Like the answers and the questions were the were like
a craze. You know, people wanted to wear him at school.
People wanted to wear him on you know, their their
high school basketball uh you know, they on street on
(10:40):
street courts and stuff and street tournaments in aau. People
wanted to wear those shoes. And then like I wanted
that same effect. You know, in the wrestling world, there's
very few things that you can wear from a wrestler
on the.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Street or every day. I would have.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
That's why when we were collaborating and putting the designs
together and the ideas of it, I was like, I
wanted to make sure this is something that kids would
want to wear at school and show off to their friends.
And then we wanted to put like an accessories. So
that's where the hat and the shirt came from. Literally
try to dress like Swerve and be like, Swerve, what
if I wear it in the ring, you can wear
(11:16):
it at home, you can wear it to school, and
it wasn't It's not something that's going to get you,
like kicked out of school for wearing something inappropriate.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
You know. It's like a very positive message type thing.
You know.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Swerve is confidence. It's always been my motto for like
over ten years and everything. So it's a it's an
approachable wear, it's an inspirational wear. It's a role model
like wear. But it's also a cool wear, you know.
And not only does have Iverson's logo and it has
my face on the logo as well off the shoe.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
So I'm seeing in Mexican Arena, Mexico people holding.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Off the shoe as well, right, these you know over
on stock acts and like I'm seeing like in the
UK and Europe being sold in certain ways. I don't
know how because some people saying Champ Sports doesn't even
ship out to Canada or across you know, international somewhere.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
Yeah, and I'm okay with that. That's cool.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Like however you can get them is really awesome to me,
just the fact that people wanted that much to go
through all these extensive ways to try to acquire this shoe,
that that means something so much more to me because
like that that means there's that that's true support.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Right, And with with Shaq now being the president of
Reebok with the relaunch, there the synergy there too because
he obviously has he's had a match with a W two,
so it's kind of a working both ways there too.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
So yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Know, one one thing controversial that happened not too long
ago that you probably have an opinion about MGF officially
joining the Heart Syndicate. What was your reaction to Bobby
finally doing the thumbs up and letting him in, And
you know, do you do you see a double cross happening?
And which side do you see turning on the other First.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'm just as surprised as everybody else watching. And then
that's I think that's it's interesting television and MS has
always brought interesting television to all the wrestling. You know,
hurts indicate brings attention and they bring a different type
of class to the product that I feel like no
other promotion really can do. So that's why so bad
(13:22):
here and Ali wrestling. You know, I was an introduction
for Hertzendigga coming in, you know, Bobby Lashley, I was
just you know, first singles matching all the wrestling, and
that was a that was something that was really big.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
And important for me.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Like to see like these two African American wrestling stars
of the past decade, you know, come together and like
really show out in full gear twenty twenty four. You know,
that was meant something. So they're always must watch. They're
always an impact that you see them, you understand them,
and but you're also they're also there's an unpredictability factor
(13:55):
with MVP in there too, So MJF being one of
the X factors of all the wrestling. To get with
these guys, I'm always just as surprised and shocked as
the fan base is.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
And so if you can have other people on the roster.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Tuning in and not knowing what to expect, those guys,
they're doing great work.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And you know the one thing that's
really cool when you look at it is, uh, you've
got Bobby, You've got Shelton, you've got MVP in this
group together. What's it been like seeing Bobby and Shelton
getting their flowers after joining AW because I mean it
seems like they're getting.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
An even bigger platform than they had before.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, kind of like they're tossed away a little bit
at their prior.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Well, right, they're, like I said, there's always an impact
on television, So that shows their value still to this day.
You know, they're always being seen, they're always available, they
have championships on them. Right now, they're revitalizing the tag
team division in a way that hasn't been done in AW.
You know, they're a dominant tag team. You're not gonnacessarily
(15:00):
go out there be competitive with them, guys.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
At this point, not everybody should. It's a task.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
So when that team comes around that does like push
them and take them to the limits, it's going to
be once again good television. It's going to be something
interesting to watch. So it's it's it's always a challenge
to take people out of the norm of what we
do because a lot of people love seeing the tag
team bangers.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
You know in the tag team division. Now you got
two tags.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Now you got a tag team with two guys and
a veteran manager of MVP that these guys aren't competitive,
aren't competing, They're going to beat you. These are guys,
these are a wall, these are titans to go against
and that feel and a lot of people are getting
adjusting our fan base even adjusting to that, you know.
And that's the best thing about a w every time
(15:49):
we get we get you in a pattern for several months,
then make you have to readjust it a little bit,
you know, not fail and refreshing, you know. And I
think that a the Ali Wrestling tag champ that Hurt
Sinde Kav has been doing that in an amazing way,
and they're doing it their way.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Now, one thing you look at aw in the history
that Swerve has, I mean Swerve has his finger on
just about every person on that roster if you look
at it, one of them being your recent time limit
draw with Osprey, another banger with interesting implications. As we're
getting closer to all in Texas, you and Ospray just
keep taking that bar like it's here, and you keep
(16:35):
taking it here, and then you keep pushing it further
and further match after match. Does your respect for him
grow with each match? Or does the rivalry cut deeper
every time.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
It cuts deeper, even like it's always been like we're
on the opposite sides of the ring, but we've never
been more connected as people inside the ring, you know,
outside of it and inside we're like always like we
like I always say, like every time we fight, we
learn and we learn more about ourselves. We learn more
about each other, and the people learn more about me
(17:07):
and him. You know, there's there's a learning thing. And
then also people that are watching, they're learning more about aw'
There's always something to teach, there's always something to learn from.
When me and Ospar in the ring, he makes me
better every single time, even after all these years.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
I've been wrestling at King since he was eighteen, and
then you and all the way to like.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Wrestling them right after you want the super Juniors at
twenty three, you know, all the way to doing multimn
matches with him at like Mania weekends and and like
four Ways and all these things like that, to doing
it and the pay per view main events of Forbidden Door.
You know in him every step of the way as
a kid, and this kid still pushes me. He was
(17:54):
pushing me back then and he still pushes me. Now
he's been learning from me. I've been learning from him.
But there's always a personal thing involved that we always
have respect, in love and appreciation for each other. After
Forbidden Door, like I held him head to head, send
my words to him, and I kissed him on the forehead,
(18:14):
you know.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
And then after this match that we had in the
time limit.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Draw, he took a bullet from me from the young
Bucks with the spike sneeters you know, and a super kick.
So that goes to show we always still connected in
such a way that nobody else can drive that away.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
We go at it and we push each other, but
we also have to understanding that you can't just be
here in all of the wrestling just to be here.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
We've always had that same respect.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
We both pushed the bar and raise it as to
certain lengths that like people's second guests, can they come
to all the wrestling people second guests, Can they just
like sign a contract and make an impact in all
your wrestling. It shouldn't be like that. It should be
like signing with the Lakers, you know, like Lakers and
just expected to be starting five and run the floor
and get playing time. No, you have to work, have
(19:00):
to be one of the best out there, and you
gotta wonder can you come to the Lakers, and then
you gotta work that much harder to stay on the team,
you know what I mean. That's what we want to
always keep that standard in all the wrestlings. So Osprey
believes in that, and that's why he is where he is,
and I support where he is where he is, always have,
always will and that's why he feels like he can
(19:21):
just jump in the ring with me and then put
me on his team because we believe in the same
things of all the wrestling.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah. Yeah, it's it's just been awesome to see. So
I've got things that could be viewed as political, but
I'll stay away from those. But let's just you mentioned
something about, you know, signing contracts and stuff like that.
There have been several free agents popping up in the
waters recently last month two months specifically, some of those
(19:50):
very likely in aaw What advice do you have to
those free agents and recent releases as they navigate, you know,
the independent scene in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
A lot of those guys have their had their gripes
of how they've been used for the last several years.
All the opportunities that they thought they had that they
were taken away from. All of them felt like they
were shorthanded and short changed in a lot of different ways,
like all the things that I was, I would say
honestly because I felt the same way. I was in
the same position as them, all the things that you
(20:22):
weren't allowed to do or the opportunities that were taken
away from you. Now you have the chance to create
it for yourself. Now there's nobody there to tell you. No,
there's nobody there to say all will wait on you
and then we'll.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Get back to you.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And then you hear nothing for six months, Like there's
nobody to take your time away. There's nothing, no hierarchy
overarching like like system right to hold your life in
your career for several several years, and then when you
get out of it, you feel like nothing has been accomplished. No,
(20:57):
the time is now for you, not later. It's not
like dedicated to somebody else to offer you that time.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
The time is yours.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Take that time and cherish it and understand like now
you get other people to respect your time. Yeah, because
that's something like nobody can pay you for You can't
buy time, and nobody can pay time.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
It's up to you to decide what you do with it.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
And it only goes, and it only takes down, it
only takes away. So take that of all the years
or the months or the moments that were taken away
from you, get it back and put it into That's
what you're putting your effort into. The time, you know,
And so now there's no there's no time like now.
So take it back and don't wait around for anybody
(21:44):
or for anything, and make people come to you. Don't
run for somebody else, make them come to you, and
be so good and get your leverage back. If you
have industry, it's the hardest thing to truly turn into value.
It is to gain that leverage, gain that that want,
that need for you.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
And of course a w uh they kick off their
time here in Kent, Washington for three big shows with
Collision tomorrow showere Center. Tickets still available ae W ticks
dot com. That is a e W t i x
dot com. And last question before we let you go, Uh,
obviously we know you're very big uh into the music industry.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I mean we were sitting here looking at your insert stories.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
You put out a new music video earlier on your stories,
which everybody should go check that out.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
If we were to go through your playlist right now,
like if we just start scrolling.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Through, what's that one song on there that we see? Huh?
We didn't really think Swerves listening to this.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
You might lose some street cred for it.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Uh, it's not I would say it's not even that old.
But Harry styles Watermelon Sugar is firing. Yes, yes, yes,
that's a modern day disco record. And I love I
love the It plays for me easily. Yeah even uh uh,
I love it record. Yeah, may look at bell I think,
(23:05):
but Playbord Party get Me. It's a I was like,
this is unique, this is different. Nokiae me you know
g n X get spins for me from Ken Uh
Dodger Blue Yeah that gets crazy spins. Oh man, Like
there's so many. It's like not really just one, but
(23:25):
I was. I was at the top for sure.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Let's go.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Yeah, absolutely pretty solid stuff. Well, uh, Swerve. It's an
honor and privilege to have you back here on the show.
Before we let you go, anything you want to say
to people watching or listening to this right.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Now, h Man.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Keep checking out AW keep supporting the hottest wrestling product
in the world. Man aw ticks dot com if you're
trying to come to a show near you in the city.
And every Saturdays at eight on TNT Collision and every
Wednesday night ate eight o'clock down in.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
My Eastern time, man, so you know where to find
this man. Cop these shoes.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
The New Swerve answered threes with a collaboration with Reebok
and Allen Iverson you know, now available on Champs Sports.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
But get them.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
They're very limited size, it's very limited until they restop,
So keep checking them out, keep picking those up. And
you know, July eleventh, got a new uh new little
music video coming out too with my man Monty, So
check that out. That's coming your way. That'll be released
very very soon. You'll get some previews coming up.
Welcome to the battle Ground Podcast, dat.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
You'll play.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
And exclusive interviews with some of your favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Stop seeing.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
What's up you guys.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Welcome back into iHeartRadio's official wrestling podcast, the Battleground Podcast.
It is battle from one O two point five, kz
Okay and uh ae W has got not one, not two,
but three big shows starting tomorrow with Collision in Kent
at the Showwear Center. Tickets, by the way, still available
at ae W ticks dot com That is ae W
(00:45):
t i x dot com. And on the show today,
a guy who is no stranger to the show give
it up for the one the only swerve Strickland.
Speaker 5 (00:55):
He know what's going on.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Man.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
It is a it is an honor and a privilege
to get your beat here on the show. And let's
let's talk about it real quick because I want to
go into this. This week, aw's Grand Slam Show in Arena, Mexico,
big cultural moment for fans who have never experienced that atmosphere.
Can you describe what it felt like to wrestle in
one of the most legendary venues in pro wrestling history.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
It felt as honestly as remarkable as the fans allowed
us to feel it, you know what I mean. It's
like the fans made it so much more of a
big monumental moment than we even like expected it to be.
You know, I don't think any of the performers on
the show, like who were either a part of all
(01:42):
the wrestling or CMLO, were expecting the great reception from
the fan base as we got.
Speaker 5 (01:48):
You know, they took it over their edge.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
They made the show so much more enjoyable from not
only just the people in the arena, but it made
it enjoyable for the people watching at home that were
literally like night and glue didn't glued to the action,
glued to the atmosphere the fan base. Seeing Mistico get
the reception that he got, you know, in the match
with MJF was like unworldly and it made you appreciate
(02:12):
the superstars so much more.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
It made you appreciate the moment that much more.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
And then just hearing the reception and everybody's takes and
what everybody was saying about the event afterwards, after watching
and enjoying it, you know, it made us like really
appreciate being able to perform the arena that much more
because as much as it's great for us, the performers,
how much it means to us, It means that much
(02:37):
more for the fans to really appreciate and understand the
meaning and the moment that we created. We'll all eat
Wrestling and CMLA doing world doing what we did, you know,
doing the Grand Slam like that.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, And I was texting buddies. I was like, you
guys have got to turn this on right now. This
is incredible. Yeah, we got it. We got another paper
review quality match on you know, matches on the on
Freak TV.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
So just incredible.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
So you know something that you probably you know, probably
not your favorite subject, but Hangman Adam Page. You know,
he gave a very passionate, whatever you wanna call it
speech a Grand Slam in Spanish. No less, is Hangman
the right man for the job heading end all in?
Do you think he's the right man to kind of
dethrone Mocksley? And would it be obvious to assume that,
(03:29):
you know, you would have a target out for him
if he becomes the world champion next.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Honestly, he was the right man for the job regardless
if I was going to be world champion going into
all In or if it was going to be John Moxley.
It was always like he was always going to be
the right man, you know what I mean, like always,
like as much as like we have the history between
me and him as people more so just competitors, as
(03:54):
just man to man, he was always the right guy
for this whole situation, which is why I went at
him in the first place, you know, after like like
nothing about his position and the company has ever changed.
And that's the point that I made when I first
like went at him after all out, after he won
the Battle Royal, the charity Battle Royal, and after all
(04:17):
Out on the Dynamite, I literally came at him and
I said, like, dude, why are you in this position?
We know who you are, and we know who you're
capable of, and if you're not, if you don't think
you're good enough for that anymore, move out of the
way and I'm going to take that seat, you know,
like I as much as it was me coming at
him and ah, you know, difficult as a challenging position,
(04:42):
it was me acknowledging the fact that he is that guy.
He's always been that guy. He's always been the main
character of bal Lee Wrestling which is why I came
at him in the first place. You know, So him
being in a position to open the show like doing
an entire five minute plus promo in Spanish and the
home countries like language, that shows the respect that he
(05:03):
has for the fan base, and that also shows that
all the wrestling still puts him as the guy to
introduce us and to start the show off with that
type of like, we're not here to take over your company.
We're here to be guests in your home in Arena Mexico.
We're being guests of CMLL, and we just want you
(05:24):
to know we appreciate that. And it's the person that's
going to be the spokesperson to literally do that handshake
agreement to begin the show. You know, we're here at appreciative.
You know, he's always been that guy, you know, regardless
how I feel about it personally or you know, and
like as a competitor, he's always been that guy. And
(05:46):
that's once again from day one today, you know, almost
three hundred episodes of Dynamite we're about to have he's
always been that guy.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yeah, and you know, when companies work together and it's
not a takeover situation, that's that's a breath of fresh air.
You know, that's always good to see.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
So yes, absolutely, and something also that you know, me
and Eli have talked about this, and I will tell
you that I am a big shoe junkie and I
was gonna hit you up before this show because up
until this morning, size ten and a half and your
shoes were sold out, so I was gonna see if
you could like pull some strings. But now Champs finally
has a ten and a half back up on the website,
(06:23):
so I'll be ordering some of those soon.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
What's it been like to just kind of watch this?
Speaker 4 (06:28):
I mean you have not one but two signature shoes,
one from somewhere previous now with th Reebok as well,
so you have two signature shoes. What's it been like
watching this kind of demand and cultural response? And is
there talks of future collapse? Maybe we can get some
Swerve pumps or maybe a full apparel line because I
know there's a shirt and a hat that goes with
(06:48):
the shoes as well.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Now, yeah, it was something that al Lei Wrestling always
wanted to capitalize on. With me, the one that was
previous was going to be personalized one by a friend
of mine, mad Sho has his own brand. He did
collaborative shoes with like Odell Beckham Junior with Davonte Ya,
Justin Jefferson and Stefan Diggs. He's big in the NFL,
(07:11):
you know, in the world, and he also has golf
shoes now too. That was about to be something that
we were going to partner and like really sign off
do something bigger with, but All Lead Wrestling really they
were like, all right, you can you have the option
to do this, or we have the option to do
this and really blow this up and keep it under
the All Lead Wrestling umbrella and truly reach out to
(07:33):
the connections that we have, but not only just make
this just your thing, but a true partner and collaborative
brand and reaching out Reebok adding on Alan Iverson, who
collaborated and posted and gave the thumbs up for this
sneaker was something I couldn't.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Pass up, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:52):
So that was something I had to put all my
efforts and energy with and just my branding, you know,
so especially with Reebok, with Shaq and Iverson coming together
to rebrand Rebock in a different way, different new light.
In twenty twenty five, you know, they got a documentary
on Netflix about that whole thing. Right now, Angel reached
(08:12):
from the w NBA getting her first signature shoot with
Reebok's like, man, that's a team that I want to
be a part of, you know and even want to
venture into the pro wrestling world with, you know, Swerve
and know the brand. And that shows the impact that
I have being here in Allie Wrestling. And it wasn't
just by, It wasn't just me. It was all Lee Wrestling,
(08:35):
Tony Kahan, you know, Linda and Chris Peck and a
lot of these guys like Kosha that came together to
really put their best foot forward to make sure that
this came out as success. We wanted to come out
the gate with us success at bona Fide, guaranteed success
with Champs And just like by noon o'clock Eastern time,
I believe it was just on the day of the release,
(08:56):
there was seven hundred shoes sold and making a number
one on Champs Sports. So estamates to just the team,
the branding, the belief in me from Reebok, the belief
in me from Alan Iverson to even want to like
post about it on his ig and the video and
all that stuff. He said, he was blown away about
the whole thing. And that's the estamates of the fan
(09:16):
base of All Leap Wrestling still continue to purchase these
shoes to keep having to like restock and have to
refresh the shoe. And then you're seeing the shoe go on.
Speaker 5 (09:25):
Stock X for about eight hundred dollars overseas. Yeah, like
it felt like a moment in time. It's like wow, Like.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
It really makes me and the people believe that I
am the franchise of All Leap Wrestling.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
You know, yeah for sure.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
And like I told Eli, like when they went on sale,
it was very difficult to get him. And then, like
you said, I saw the price rise up on stock
because I was like, maybe I'll wait for a restock.
And then when I go look, ten and a half
sold out. I normally wear ten and a half or eleven.
And I was like, we sit there yesterday as we
were prepping for the show, and I was like, well,
maybe Swerve could pull some strings and I could like
give him my credit card to get a ten and
(10:01):
a half. But all of a sudden, Champs put more
up there today because obviously people are wanting the shoes,
and it's got to be a cool thing for you
to see when people are posting that they're buying buying
your shoes, or you show up at an aw show
and there's going to be some kid wearing your shoes
or an adult wearing your shoes.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
It was the same effect that Alan Iverson had his
shoes first came out in the NBA in like two thousand.
Like the answers and the questions were the were like
a craze. You know, people wanted to wear him at school.
People wanted to wear him on you know, their their
high school basketball uh you know, they on street on
(10:40):
street courts and stuff and street tournaments in aau. People
wanted to wear those shoes. And then like I wanted
that same effect. You know, in the wrestling world, there's
very few things that you can wear from a wrestler
on the.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Street or every day. I would have.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
That's why when we were collaborating and putting the designs
together and the ideas of it, I was like, I
wanted to make sure this is something that kids would
want to wear at school and show off to their friends.
And then we wanted to put like an accessories. So
that's where the hat and the shirt came from. Literally
try to dress like Swerve and be like, Swerve, what
if I wear it in the ring, you can wear
(11:16):
it at home, you can wear it to school, and
it wasn't It's not something that's going to get you,
like kicked out of school for wearing something inappropriate.
Speaker 5 (11:23):
You know. It's like a very positive message type thing.
You know.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Swerve is confidence. It's always been my motto for like
over ten years and everything. So it's a it's an
approachable wear, it's an inspirational wear. It's a role model
like wear. But it's also a cool wear, you know.
And not only does have Iverson's logo and it has
my face on the logo as well off the shoe.
Speaker 5 (11:45):
So I'm seeing in Mexican Arena, Mexico people holding.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Off the shoe as well, right, these you know over
on stock acts and like I'm seeing like in the
UK and Europe being sold in certain ways. I don't
know how because some people saying Champ Sports doesn't even
ship out to Canada or across you know, international somewhere.
Speaker 5 (12:07):
Yeah, and I'm okay with that. That's cool.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Like however you can get them is really awesome to me,
just the fact that people wanted that much to go
through all these extensive ways to try to acquire this shoe,
that that means something so much more to me because
like that that means there's that that's true support.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Right, And with with Shaq now being the president of
Reebok with the relaunch, there the synergy there too because
he obviously has he's had a match with a W two,
so it's kind of a working both ways there too.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
So yeah, you.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Know, one one thing controversial that happened not too long
ago that you probably have an opinion about MGF officially
joining the Heart Syndicate. What was your reaction to Bobby
finally doing the thumbs up and letting him in, And
you know, do you do you see a double cross happening?
And which side do you see turning on the other First.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'm just as surprised as everybody else watching. And then
that's I think that's it's interesting television and MS has
always brought interesting television to all the wrestling. You know,
hurts indicate brings attention and they bring a different type
of class to the product that I feel like no
other promotion really can do. So that's why so bad
(13:22):
here and Ali wrestling. You know, I was an introduction
for Hertzendigga coming in, you know, Bobby Lashley, I was
just you know, first singles matching all the wrestling, and
that was a that was something that was really big.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
And important for me.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Like to see like these two African American wrestling stars
of the past decade, you know, come together and like
really show out in full gear twenty twenty four. You know,
that was meant something. So they're always must watch. They're
always an impact that you see them, you understand them,
and but you're also they're also there's an unpredictability factor
(13:55):
with MVP in there too, So MJF being one of
the X factors of all the wrestling. To get with
these guys, I'm always just as surprised and shocked as
the fan base is.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
And so if you can have other people on the roster.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
Tuning in and not knowing what to expect, those guys,
they're doing great work.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And you know the one thing that's
really cool when you look at it is, uh, you've
got Bobby, You've got Shelton, you've got MVP in this
group together. What's it been like seeing Bobby and Shelton
getting their flowers after joining AW because I mean it
seems like they're getting.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
An even bigger platform than they had before.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Yeah, kind of like they're tossed away a little bit
at their prior.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Well, right, they're, like I said, there's always an impact
on television, So that shows their value still to this day.
You know, they're always being seen, they're always available, they
have championships on them. Right now, they're revitalizing the tag
team division in a way that hasn't been done in AW.
You know, they're a dominant tag team. You're not gonnacessarily
(15:00):
go out there be competitive with them, guys.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
At this point, not everybody should. It's a task.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
So when that team comes around that does like push
them and take them to the limits, it's going to
be once again good television. It's going to be something
interesting to watch. So it's it's it's always a challenge
to take people out of the norm of what we
do because a lot of people love seeing the tag
team bangers.
Speaker 5 (15:21):
You know in the tag team division. Now you got
two tags.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Now you got a tag team with two guys and
a veteran manager of MVP that these guys aren't competitive,
aren't competing, They're going to beat you. These are guys,
these are a wall, these are titans to go against
and that feel and a lot of people are getting
adjusting our fan base even adjusting to that, you know.
And that's the best thing about a w every time
(15:49):
we get we get you in a pattern for several months,
then make you have to readjust it a little bit,
you know, not fail and refreshing, you know. And I
think that a the Ali Wrestling tag champ that Hurt
Sinde Kav has been doing that in an amazing way,
and they're doing it their way.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
Yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
Now, one thing you look at aw in the history
that Swerve has, I mean Swerve has his finger on
just about every person on that roster if you look
at it, one of them being your recent time limit
draw with Osprey, another banger with interesting implications. As we're
getting closer to all in Texas, you and Ospray just
keep taking that bar like it's here, and you keep
(16:35):
taking it here, and then you keep pushing it further
and further match after match. Does your respect for him
grow with each match? Or does the rivalry cut deeper
every time.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
It cuts deeper, even like it's always been like we're
on the opposite sides of the ring, but we've never
been more connected as people inside the ring, you know,
outside of it and inside we're like always like we
like I always say, like every time we fight, we
learn and we learn more about ourselves. We learn more
about each other, and the people learn more about me
(17:07):
and him. You know, there's there's a learning thing. And
then also people that are watching, they're learning more about aw'
There's always something to teach, there's always something to learn from.
When me and Ospar in the ring, he makes me
better every single time, even after all these years.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
I've been wrestling at King since he was eighteen, and
then you and all the way to like.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Wrestling them right after you want the super Juniors at
twenty three, you know, all the way to doing multimn
matches with him at like Mania weekends and and like
four Ways and all these things like that, to doing
it and the pay per view main events of Forbidden Door.
You know in him every step of the way as
a kid, and this kid still pushes me. He was
(17:54):
pushing me back then and he still pushes me. Now
he's been learning from me. I've been learning from him.
But there's always a personal thing involved that we always
have respect, in love and appreciation for each other. After
Forbidden Door, like I held him head to head, send
my words to him, and I kissed him on the forehead,
(18:14):
you know.
Speaker 5 (18:14):
And then after this match that we had in the
time limit.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Draw, he took a bullet from me from the young
Bucks with the spike sneeters you know, and a super kick.
So that goes to show we always still connected in
such a way that nobody else can drive that away.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
You know.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
We go at it and we push each other, but
we also have to understanding that you can't just be
here in all of the wrestling just to be here.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
We've always had that same respect.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
We both pushed the bar and raise it as to
certain lengths that like people's second guests, can they come
to all the wrestling people second guests, Can they just
like sign a contract and make an impact in all
your wrestling. It shouldn't be like that. It should be
like signing with the Lakers, you know, like Lakers and
just expected to be starting five and run the floor
and get playing time. No, you have to work, have
(19:00):
to be one of the best out there, and you
gotta wonder can you come to the Lakers, and then
you gotta work that much harder to stay on the team,
you know what I mean. That's what we want to
always keep that standard in all the wrestlings. So Osprey
believes in that, and that's why he is where he is,
and I support where he is where he is, always have,
always will and that's why he feels like he can
(19:21):
just jump in the ring with me and then put
me on his team because we believe in the same
things of all the wrestling.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Yeah. Yeah, it's it's just been awesome to see. So
I've got things that could be viewed as political, but
I'll stay away from those. But let's just you mentioned
something about, you know, signing contracts and stuff like that.
There have been several free agents popping up in the
waters recently last month two months specifically, some of those
(19:50):
very likely in aaw What advice do you have to
those free agents and recent releases as they navigate, you know,
the independent scene in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
A lot of those guys have their had their gripes
of how they've been used for the last several years.
All the opportunities that they thought they had that they
were taken away from. All of them felt like they
were shorthanded and short changed in a lot of different ways,
like all the things that I was, I would say
honestly because I felt the same way. I was in
the same position as them, all the things that you
(20:22):
weren't allowed to do or the opportunities that were taken
away from you. Now you have the chance to create
it for yourself. Now there's nobody there to tell you. No,
there's nobody there to say all will wait on you
and then we'll.
Speaker 5 (20:34):
Get back to you.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And then you hear nothing for six months, Like there's
nobody to take your time away. There's nothing, no hierarchy
overarching like like system right to hold your life in
your career for several several years, and then when you
get out of it, you feel like nothing has been accomplished. No,
(20:57):
the time is now for you, not later. It's not
like dedicated to somebody else to offer you that time.
Speaker 5 (21:03):
The time is yours.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Take that time and cherish it and understand like now
you get other people to respect your time. Yeah, because
that's something like nobody can pay you for You can't
buy time, and nobody can pay time.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
It's up to you to decide what you do with it.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
And it only goes, and it only takes down, it
only takes away. So take that of all the years
or the months or the moments that were taken away
from you, get it back and put it into That's
what you're putting your effort into. The time, you know,
And so now there's no there's no time like now.
So take it back and don't wait around for anybody
(21:44):
or for anything, and make people come to you. Don't
run for somebody else, make them come to you, and
be so good and get your leverage back. If you
have industry, it's the hardest thing to truly turn into value.
It is to gain that leverage, gain that that want,
that need for you.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely for sure.
Speaker 4 (22:07):
And of course a w uh they kick off their
time here in Kent, Washington for three big shows with
Collision tomorrow showere Center. Tickets still available ae W ticks
dot com. That is a e W t i x
dot com. And last question before we let you go, Uh,
obviously we know you're very big uh into the music industry.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I mean we were sitting here looking at your insert stories.
Speaker 4 (22:27):
You put out a new music video earlier on your stories,
which everybody should go check that out.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
If we were to go through your playlist right now,
like if we just start scrolling.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Through, what's that one song on there that we see? Huh?
We didn't really think Swerves listening to this.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
You might lose some street cred for it.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
Uh, it's not I would say it's not even that old.
But Harry styles Watermelon Sugar is firing. Yes, yes, yes,
that's a modern day disco record. And I love I
love the It plays for me easily. Yeah even uh uh,
I love it record. Yeah, may look at bell I think,
(23:05):
but Playbord Party get Me. It's a I was like,
this is unique, this is different. Nokiae me you know
g n X get spins for me from Ken Uh
Dodger Blue Yeah that gets crazy spins. Oh man, Like
there's so many. It's like not really just one, but
(23:25):
I was. I was at the top for sure.
Speaker 5 (23:29):
Let's go.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Yeah, absolutely pretty solid stuff. Well, uh, Swerve. It's an
honor and privilege to have you back here on the show.
Before we let you go, anything you want to say
to people watching or listening to this right.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
Now, h Man.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Keep checking out AW keep supporting the hottest wrestling product
in the world. Man aw ticks dot com if you're
trying to come to a show near you in the city.
And every Saturdays at eight on TNT Collision and every
Wednesday night ate eight o'clock down in.
Speaker 5 (23:54):
My Eastern time, man, so you know where to find
this man. Cop these shoes.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
The New Swerve answered threes with a collaboration with Reebok
and Allen Iverson you know, now available on Champs Sports.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
But get them.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
They're very limited size, it's very limited until they restop,
So keep checking them out, keep picking those up. And
you know, July eleventh, got a new uh new little
music video coming out too with my man Monty, So
check that out. That's coming your way. That'll be released
very very soon. You'll get some previews coming up.
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