R-Truth is proud of the new generation.
When referee Stephon Smith tapped the 1-2-3 on the mat in the main event of Dynasty, AEW officially had a new World Champion in Swerve Strickland… or was it Kofi Kingston, the man R-Truth thought lifted up the belt in the culmination of his life-long dream?
Confusing? If anyone else said it yes, yes, it would have been, but considering getting facts wrong is basically Truth’s whole gimmick at this point, nobody, especially not Strickland, really held it against him, with the new World Champion laughing at his “offending” tweet on his Instagram story.
Asked about Strickland becoming the new AEW World Champion in an interview with Battleground Podcast, Truth got emotional discussing his influence on the next generation of African American professional wrestlers, as he’s proud to see so many current performers shining at the same time.
“I get emotional. It’s a prestigious honor. Let me say this, I want to congratulate Swerve. Definitely gotta congratulate him man on his achievement, his accomplishment. I meant to call you. I’m sorry I haven’t called you yet. I’m gonna text you,” R-Truth explained via Fightful. “He’s been killing it for a while, but he’s so talented, man, so humble. [He’s] so well-deserving of what he’s doing now. You’re just seeing the beginning of him, Trick, [Oba], Carmelo, these guys are just like — it’s such a good time to be a part of this. It’s such a good time to see these guys give me my flowers. Strickland has always talked good about me, man. Again, it’s a surreal moment for me man to be in the position I’m in.”
While Truth hasn’t been a serious contender in WWE for years now, with his current run with the Tag Team Championship still very much a comedy schtick not too dissimilar from his 53 runs with the 24/7 Championship, there was a time when he was a very legitimate player on the indies, in TNA, and even in early WWE. For performers like Strickland, who came up watching Truth and following a similar path, to now be on top of the AEW world must be incredible for Ron Killings to see, as his influence could help to shape wrestling for years to come.
Matt Hardy is happy to see Swerve Strickland win at AEW Dynasty.
Speaking of future WWE Hall of Famers commenting on Swerve Strickland’s huge win over Samoa Joe at Dynasty, Matt Hardy committed some time on his Extreme Life podcast to put over the new AEW World Champion, noting just how happy he is to see the 33-year-old grappler finally earn the big one not just for himself but for his community too.
“Very happy for him, man. I like him a lot as a performer and a person, so I was very happy that he was able to get this match. It is now official and he is the AEW World Champion, I’m just proud of him man. I think it’s also something that is very proud for the culture. Him being a black champion, it’s very inspirational for black people in wrestling, so i think it’s very good on that front,” Matt Hardy explained on his podcast via Fightful.
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“I thought it was solid, I thought it was a very solid match. I thought it was a great decision to make Samoa Joe the champ in the meantime because we kind of quickly came to an end as far as MJF’s reign went. Samoa Joe becoming the champ following MJF, I wanna give Samoa Joe his flowers because he was a h*ll of a champion during that time: he was very believable, he was very bada**, and I think the fact that we got to this point and we had the buildup with him and Swerve, and Swerve knocked off Samoa Joe, who did seem like a final boss in so many ways, a real big bad Samoan bada**. I’m very happy that Swerve got that strong win over him, and once again, I give Swerve and Joe their flowers.”
Now granted, Hardy was absent for much of the build to Strickland’s win at AEW Dynasty, as he hasn’t been on television for the promotion since Jeff Hardy was injured by Sammy Guevara on February 14th and has since signed a per-appearance deal with TNA as he prepares for another Hardy Boyz run when the duo both become free agents in the not-too-distant future. Still, he has bumped elbows with Strickland plenty of times before, both in the ring and backstage and as a result, Hardy is proud to see the well-traveled veteran finally make good on his dream to become the first-ever African American AEW World Champion.
