Swerve Strickland Shares Opinion Of Samoa Joe Ahead Of AEW Title Match

Ever since dethroning MJF at AEW Worlds End 2023, Samoa Joe has commanded attention as the AEW World Champion. He has already shown what he is capable of in the ring thanks to his match with Hook on "AEW Dynamite" in January, and will attempt to solidify his spot at the top of the card when he faces both Swerve Strickland and "Hangman" Adam Page in a three-way match at Revolution 2024.

Despite also having a calm persona onscreen, Strickland has to acknowledge who he's getting in the ring with, telling The Athletic how much respect he has for the AEW World Champion. "He's a true pioneer in this business, and he holds so much intimidation," Strickland said. "There's so much of an aura about him that he has always had, and he has found a way to fine-tune it in so many ways."

Joe was released not once but twice by WWE within the space of a year in 2021 and 2022, and the fact he has managed to come back from that and become a world champion again is something Strickland has a lot of respect for. "Joe has once again revitalized his career, found another way to reshape it. Just being in the ring doing promos alone is surreal. People are buying into it from a promo standpoint; now people are anticipating us getting to the physical aspect. It means the world to me, and reaching Joe in a pay-per-view sense shows my growth. Getting to him means I've grown." Joe and Strickland have only crossed paths one inside the ring, that being as partners on the February 21 "Dynamite," where alongside Brian Cage, they defeated the team of Page, Hook, and Rob Van Dam.