After having their last AEW World Championship match decided under triple-threat rules, with “Hangman” Adam Page playing a major part in the ultimate finish of the match, Swerve Strickland and Samoa Joe finally get to settle things one-on-one at AEW Dynasty in St. Louis, with the winner truly getting to take all at the culmination of the brand new Pay-Per-View.

Now for Strickland, this is a true advantage considering his last match was effectively two-on-one, considering Page wanted to prevent the “Realest” from becoming champion almost as much as he wanted the belt for himself, but in a way, the challenger really isn't alone in his pursuits, as he has more than just Prince Nana in his corner in what should be a very interesting main event.

Discussing his pursuit of the biggest prize in AEW on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Strickland decided to shout out the performers who came before him who weren't afforded the same chance at a top championship, including Big E, who had his prime ended by a neck injury that has kept him out of the ring ever since.

“So that's just on a personal note on the outside of things like on the industry-wide, man. At the age that I'm at, I'm in my prime years, and a lot of people miss out, or something unfortunate happens, and that time is taken away,” Swerve Strickland explained on the AEW Unrestricted podcast via Fightful.

“Like, shout out to Big E. He was in his prime years and a misfortune it was taken away from him. And we didn't really truly get to see him blossom into the next level. And so guys like that, I want to like push forward for. Regardless of company, that's a good friend of mine.

“I want to push forward for guys like that and I want to push forward for guys that didn't get the opportunity to get to the level that I'm at. I want to push forward for the people that were unfortunate enough to have circumstances just taken away from them that were literally on the path to change the business for my culture and for my people and stuff. That's all the stuff that I think about that's weighing on my shoulders.”

After years of hoping to become the first-ever black World Champion in AEW history, will Strickland finally accomplish his dream at AEW Dynasty? Or will Joe remain one of the most dominant champions in the world today? In a matter of hours, fans around the world will find out.

Swerve Strickland believes he has what it takes to defeat Samoa Joe.

After wrestling Samo Joe multiple times already, Swerve Strickland was asked on the AEW Unrestricted podcast if he has anything new he can throw at the “Samoan Submission Machine” or if he's simply going to run through the greatest hits in the pursuit of a different outcome. To Strickland's credit, he does have a few ideas in mind for the match, as he wants to come out of this match with the AEW World Championship belt around his waist.

“For me, there's a lot. I have a lot in the tank. There's never been anybody like me in this industry for a long time, and I'll say that proudly and truly and truthfully. I'm not like anything Joe has ever seen either. I'm one of the most unpredictable people. You don't know what I'm capable of, you don't know what i'm willing to take. There's a lot of tape study that i have on Joe, two decades worth of it. I wonder how much he has on me, you know? That's the advantage that you have of being unorthodox, that's the advantage of being unpredictable, and you kind of don't know which way I'm coming from,” Swerve Strickland said via Fightful.

“As you can see from what we had this week, Joe still can't stop me the way he thinks he can. Those are my advantages. My military background has always been an advantage of mine. Never give up, never quit is my ethos and Joe is really seeing those layers peel back a little more with the contract signing. He beat me with a chain and bloodied me, and I still got up, and I still signed the contract because if I have to crawl through a hundred yards of barbed wire to get to the world championship, that's what I have to do. A lot of people would be like, ‘Nah, I'll wait for the next contender.' Come through, get their opportunities, and come around the other way or will win a tournament to try and find a way to weasel in. Nope, this is the path, this is the brutality, this is what i have to go through. Alright, let's dig deep and pull through. There's a lot of people that run from that grind, I never have, and I never will. I'm here for it. Joe is really realizing that week by week that I'm not just gonna lay down for him. He's realizing every week that I hit harder every time I come back.”

Will Swerve's new game plan be enough to leave Dynasty with the strap? Only time will tell, but good on Strickland for entering the match with a plan, as it's darn hard to best a performer of Joe's stature without having a strong strategy and a few tricks up your sleeve.