Welp folks, it's official: Swerve Strickland has accomplished his dream and become the first-ever African American AEW World Champion.

That's right, after pushing for this goal for years now, opting by his own admission against pursuing any mid-card titles in the pursuit of the top belt in AEW, Strickland can now bask in the glory of his in-ring efforts, and plenty of legends from around the professional wrestling business have come out of the woodwork to celebrating his win, including Booker T, the former WCW/WWE Champion who has been a fan of the “Realest” for years now.

Discussing Strickland's big win on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker celebrated his victory, noting how important it is to have representation at the top of the card.

“It’s awesome, man. It’s awesome. Swerve’s a h*ll of a worker. He deserves it. Guy’s been grinding for a long time, and now just to have that put to rest to where you ain’t gotta think about it anymore. ‘Are they gonna look at me as a representative for this company? Am I world championship material?’ Is it gonna happen? When is it gonna happen?’ Like with me, everybody asked the question, ‘When’s the black guy gonna win the WWE Championship?’ That question was asked with me. Now, he don’t have to think about that at all. He’s crossed that threshold, he’s the world heavyweight champion now, and he’s proved that he’s just as good as anybody in the world. I believe that, too. I’m not just saying that. Swerve is a d**n good worker. So for me, I’m proud of Swerve Strickland. To see him get his flowers, I’m just as happy for him myself,” Booker T said on his Hall of Fame podcast via Fightful.

“One thing I’ve always said about this business, because a lot of people always say why doesn’t companies like WWE and AEW have more black representation, why haven’t we had more black world champions? The thing is, this has always been my reasoning why it hasn’t been a whole lot of blacks in that position, because it hasn’t been a whole lot of Black guys that have worked at that level of Swerve Strickland or myself, other Black guys who have gotten that position. I don’t think we want that championship just handed to us because we’re Black. I think we want that championship because we’re just as good as anybody in the locker room. We want to be looked at as just as good as anybody in that locker room. That’s why, when I look at Swerve Strickland, I say this kid deserves it because he’s just as good as anybody in that d**n locker room.”

While it's impossible to know exactly why AEW decided to give Strickland the belt, be it his impressive pull outside of wrestling, his in-ring work, or his popularity with the crowd – realistically, it's probably a mix of all three – the reaction to his win has already earned massive reactions from fans and former wrestlers alike from around professional wrestling, which is very good news considering how less-than-ideal some of the title reigns were for AEW during the CM Punk era.

Mark Henry is proud of Swerve Strickland's AEW Dynasty win too.

While Booker T is a huge fan of giving Swerve Strickland the belt in AEW, he's far from the only mainstream wrestling personality to hold those feelings, as Mark Henry was similarly eager to put over the leader of the Moguel Embassy for his big win at AEW Dynasty too on Busted Open Radio.

“I sent out a message last night on one of the chats to congratulations to Swerve, welcome to the championship club. To be a champion in pro wrestling and have a company back you and believe in you enough that you’re gonna get the job done, is big. I mean, you are the guy that’s carrying the torch. Just like the light was on Moxley and the light was on Danielson and the light was on Joe, now the light is gonna be shined on Swerve,” Mark Henry explained on Busted Open via WrestleZone.

“Just like Cody finishing his story, now that Swerve has got to the mountaintop, what’s next? How do you keep it hot? What are you gonna do that’s gonna cement your legacy in your reign as the champion? I’m really proud of him, and I’m really excited to see where he’s gonna take this.”

What will the future hold for Strickland's run in AEW as the World Champion? Will he challenge for MJF's record-long run with the AEW Championship, or will his run burn bright and out in a blaze of glory, ending this summer at All In against the hottest wrestler on the planet, Will Ospreay? Fans will have to keep tuning in to find out.