In November, one of AEW’s brightest stars, Swerve Strickland, competed in one of the bloodiest, most brutal pro wrestling matches ever broadcast at AEW Full Gear. He defeated Hangman Adam Page, making it an unforgettable night and arguably a career-defining moment.
That night, the 33-year-old stood out in another way by paying tribute to the late Bray Wyatt, who passed away earlier this year, with his gear design. They were simultaneously in WWE earlier in their careers.
In an interview on Not Sam Wrestling with Sam Roberts, Strickland explained his homage to Wyatt, saying he wanted to pay tribute to someone who was “ahead of his time” and show appreciation to someone who was loved (h/t Fightful for transcription).
I didn’t know Bray as close as a lot of people like Brodie Lee, there were people influenced by him from his time there, but some people have known him since FCW or NXT and they have that personal connection. To me, I remember when The Fiend was really going, there was a lot of chatter that it wasn’t for them, as a fan. I was like, ‘No, this is brilliant work.’ I don’t think people really appreciated the brilliance he was bringing to the screen and a lot of risks he was taking, week by week, which is not easy to do. Weekly television on two shows. It wasn’t just Raw or SmackDown, he was doing both shows with his material. Bringing that to the real world. I really appreciated that and I think he was ahead of his time. I just wanted to show appreciation that the love and influence wasn’t lost. I put that as part of my gear, and I was in the locker room with him during my time at 205 [205 Live], he always gave me hugs. He was awesome.
At one point, I had to help him with a Fiend mask. It was COVID and we were all in that box together. There were times I had to help him with that. There were times I would see him in Gorilla coming back when they were testing the red lighting after the show and getting that going. I’ve seen a lot of those processes with him. He was always a good brother in the locker room. He was fun, really cool.
That was one of those things of, ‘you’ve always influenced me through all of this.’ No matter what, if it was their taste or wasn’t, I’m a horror person, and I was really happy to see a new age of horror brought to the screen in an industry that I love and I was like, ‘Man, that was a revolutionary.’ I wanted to take a little piece of that into what I was doing that night. If anything, I feel like his spirit powered that match.
Strickland made a thoughtful gesture, clearly appreciating Wyatt’s abilities as his character in the wrestling ring. His larger-than-life persona endeared him to both fans and wrestlers, leaving an impact that will endure forever.