Swerve Strickland sits down with The Kid Mero on Hot 97’s Morning with Mero to talk about his journey from 17 years on the independent wrestling circuit to becoming the first Black AEW World Champion and main-eventing Wembley Stadium.
The conversation covers:
🤼 Wrestling & Hip-Hop Fusion — How Swerve bridges the two worlds organically, bringing artists like Rick Ross, Bun B, Raekwon, Kevin Gates, and Fabolous into AEW without it feeling like a cash grab
🎵 Music Journey — From starting the Swerve City podcast to recording his first song (“it was trash”), getting cosigned by Juice from Flatbush Zombies, Mickey Factz, and ultimately Raekwon — who told him “I wasn’t expecting that”
🔥 New Max B Collab — The story behind linking up with Max B on the track “Coo Coo” dropping Monday, and how an airport encounter made it happen
🎤 “Stillness Is Power” — Swerve breaks down the philosophy of controlling a crowd through stillness, and how it applies equally to wrestling, hip-hop, and stand-up comedy
🏆 Making History — First Black wrestler to main event Wembley Stadium, #2 on the PWI 500 (highest-ranked Black wrestler next to The Rock), third-ever AEW Triple Crown Champion, and current World Trios Champion
💬 Crazy Wrestling Stories — Getting powerbombed on a real cinder block, Ricochet accidentally putting Santos Escobar’s brain on loop, and why duct tape is the wrestling version of the NFL’s blue tent
💪 The 17-Year Grind — Why missing his daughters’ milestones fueled him to never give up, and why there was never a Plan B
Catch Swerve on AEW Dynamite — Wednesday nights at 8PM ET on TBS & HBO Max
New single “Coo Coo” with Max B — out now
Music & merch (signed CDs, cassette tapes, T-shirts) at swervestricklandmedia.com
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