After punching his ticket to the “playoffs” of the Continental Classic on AEW Dynamite, securing a commanding win over Rush to finish out the tournament with a 4-1 record as part of the Gold League, Swerve Strickland was feeling good, as he was just one pin away from punching his ticket to Worlds End for a match against either Eddie Kingston or Bryan Danielson.
Talking to AEW's camera crew after his win New Japan Pro Wrestling-style, Strickland relived his incredible 2023 calendar year before noting that the best possible way to close out the years in style would be to pin either Jon Moxley for the first time or pin “Switchblade” Jay White on the way to finally becoming a singles champion in Tony Khan's company.
“Don't you always play with your food before you eat it? I know I do. This has actually been one of the best scenarios I could have asked for, somebody I defeated already, being Jay White, and somebody I need to get revenge on in Jon Moxley,” Swerve Strickland told the AEW camera crew. “Two birds, one stone going for my Triple Crown Championship. Gold League has probably been the toughest tournament you have ever seen in the United States, probably in the industry. Do you know why? Because I'm in it. I'm ferocious, and so is my competition, but I don't really worry about them. I went through this whole tournament with nerve damage in my shoulder, and it still came up to the final block. It just happened to be a Triple-Threat. Another road block, another way for Swerve to make his name even more impactful than it already is this year. 2023 has been fantastic, how did we leave this off? Swerve pinning either Jon Moxley or Jay White again, simple as that. See you in Orlando, I don't gotta catch a flight, because I'm gonna swerve when I drive.”
Will Justin Roberts be announcing Strickland with “And new AEW Triple Crown Champion” at Worlds End at the final show of 2023? Maybe yes, maybe no, but if it happens, it's safe to say the “Realest” deserves it, as he will have had to wrestle a half dozen of the best in-ring stars AEW has to offer to earn the honor.
Swerve Strickland believes the C2 was a shot in AEW's arm.
Discussing the Continental Classic further in an interview with Jimmy Varsallone of the Miami Herald, Swerve Strickland discussed just how valuable the tournament has been not just to AEW but to professional wrestling as a whole, as it has given the entire industry a shot in the arm.
“The Classic has been a shot in the arm of what the pro wrestling industry needed. Introducing a new style of tournament bracketing with the classic round-robin style of blocks and scoring points. The usual tournament, you see [the seeding] and sometimes those guys don't cross paths, and they don't face each other. In round robin, everyone has to face everyone, and that's what made it so special,” Swerve Strickland told the Miami Herald via Fightful.
“Everyone in the block was like, ‘I get to see these matchups. That's going to be cool. I don't know who is going to win here, this could be a draw.' A lot of fans had a lot of fun with the scoring. Whoever is truly a wrestling connoisseur can have a lot of fun with those things. Me being part of the first one, we had to set the tone for the first-ever Continental Classic. Me being a finalist and going against Jay White and Jon Moxley, who is going to go down as a Hall of Famer and all-time great, being able to not face him once, but face him twice, means a lot. I get redemption for myself. Jay White, one of the pioneers of New Japan for the last three or four years, coming over here, he is new and being integrated to the national audience on-screen. I have a victory over him, and that means something, and it means something to him. He wants his redemption on me. Everyone is after something, and we want to take it out on each other.”
To say the Continental Classic has been a success for AEW would be an understatement, as the post-Full Gear addition to the promotion's calendar year has captured the hearts and imaginations of fans all over the world all the while changing the discourse from “Is AEW okay?” to “How can TK book like this all year?” While only time will tell if the promotion can stick the proverbial landing, at this point, it's hard to call the effort anything but a resounding success.
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