AEW's Swerve Strickland Says Alliance With New Level Is A 'Dream' Come To Life

Swerve Strickland has spoken glowingly about new AEW stars Austin Creed and Kofi, and how the two have been inspirations for him.

Creed and Kofi, now known as The New Level, debuted in AEW at All In a few months after their WWE exit. Strickland teamed with the duo and won the Trios Championship in London, saying after the show that teaming with them was a dream come true for him. 

"I'm gonna like give these guys their roses. This is a whole like dream for me, too. Kofi himself has been an inspiration to me since I was a young child [laughs]. From watching him inspire and do the things that he done in the 2010s and now be refreshed and do it again in 2020s, he was a big inspiration for me to like go after the world championship because he's shown that he could do it. I've seen it and I was like, I want to do something just as special like that in my own way. That's what got me the world championship. That's what got me to main event Wembley two years ago, and to come back to Wembley like two years later and open the show with these guys [was a] dream come true," said Strickland.

He then praised Creed and his influence in pro wrestling, not just in the ring but outside of it. Strickland said it's rare that different generations of wrestlers can be together at the same time, thanking Tony Khan and AEW for making it happen.

"Creed, over here, like freaking blowing the doors off of like social media and crossing over like pop culture, video games [with] UpUpDownDown. Literally one of the best, most talented talkers in the business," he added. "Shoutout Tony Khan, shoutout AEW for making this happen."

After winning the Trios Championship, The New Level may be targeting more gold in AEW, as they confronted Adam Copeland and Christian Cage after the tag team champions' match against The Young Bucks.