Swerve Strickland Reflects On Learning From His Top Three Childhood Favorites

Swerve Strickland has the opportunity to learn from his three favorite wrestlers that he had as a kid, as he recently reflected on. Strickland had a run in WWE before he ended up coming to AEW, and between the two runs he’s had a chance to work with countless veterans and Hall of Famers including Shawn Michaels, Rey Mysterio, and Adam Copeland.

Strickland spoke about how those three were his top three as a kid on Hot 97, and added that he’s been able to learn a tome from all three men. You can see highlights below:

On Who He Looked Up to Growing Up:

“Oh, Rey Mysterio is my number one, always. Yeah that’s — Uncle Rey is like my guy. And I would say Copeland, or Edge, and then Shawn Michaels are my top three.”

On Working With All Three:

“I was able to learn from all three of them. I wrestled Rey. Couldn’t wrestle Shawn, but I learned from Shawn [in NXT]. Yep, tape studies with him, one-on-ones, like, ‘Close the door.’ Boom. It’s me and him locked in. Nobody else, like one-on-one time. That changed my mindset for wrestling and performing.

“And Copeland, I get to see him every week. And I’ll be coming up with something for the match that night. And I’m like, ‘Mm, I’m on the fence with this.’ And I go to him, and he’ll be like, ‘Nope, this is the one you should take.’ And he always has the best interests on the performer, too, which always feels good to me.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Hot 97 with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.