AEW's Swerve Strickland To Face Rising Star Nick Wayne For DEFY Championship

While Swerve Strickland has been dealing with Keith Lee wiping out his Mogul Affiliates members Parker Boudreau and Trench in AEW, he's also had a lot going on outside the promotion, including his third reign as DEFY World Champion. And that reign will now be put to the test, as the former Killshot will soon be defending the championship in a match against arguably the most popular independent wrestler in the Pacific Northwest.

DEFY took to Twitter to announce shortly after 8:30 on Monday evening, also revealing it wll take place on April 8 as part of the event DEFY: The Realest. 

"It's the biggest rematch in DEFY history," the Tweet read. "'PNW Prince' NICK WAYNE challenges 'King' SWERVE for his DEFY CROWN."

As noted, this title match between Strickland and Wayne is a rematch from their first bout, which took place in February 2022 at DEFY 50. And Strickland will surely feel confident he can retain his championship based off the first encounter, as he was able to defeat Wayne, albeit after over 20 minutes of back and forth action. Fittingly, the rematch will take place in Historic Washington Hall, the sight of the first encounter between the two.

While the match will be built around Strickland looking to secure a second successful title defense of his DEFY World Title, the match will also be seen as a potential AEW preview, after Wayne signed a contract with the promotion last year. Due to his age, Wayne has yet to make his in ring debut for AEW, though he did appear onscreen during the Seattle episode of "AEW Dynamite" earlier this year. Wayne has stated he will become a full time wrestler for AEW upon turning 18 later this year.