Swerve Strickland Weighs In On ‘First-Time’ Match With Kenny Omega

Swerve Strickland faced off with Kenny Omega for the first time last month, and he reflected on the similarities between them in an interview before the match. Strickland and Omega competed on the February 18th episode of AEW Dynamite, a match that Strickland won before turning heel on the Elite member by assaulting him post-match.

In an interview conducted with Rich Latta on the day of the show, Strickland spoke about the match being one of his first-time matches and how it’s special for him. He spoke about the similarity between them in that they’re unique and hard to compare to other talent. You can see the highlights below:

On His Match With Omega:

“In AEW, there’s a laundry list of first time matchups. Just this year, 2026, I’ve had two — about to be my third with Kenny Omega — first time ever matchups. This one’s special for many, many reasons. This is going to show who truly is the future of AEW, who truly is the most important figure in AEW. Everybody that’s ever faced me, stepped up to me — and I mean it that way by stepped up to me, Swerve Strickland — has come out better on the other end. Has become a made man, a made tag team, or reinvigorated their career, reignited a fire in them that the fans or themselves as performers never knew they even had. That’s the beauty of Swerve.”

On His Similarity With Omega:

“People watch me. They inspire from what I’ve done, because I’m authentically myself and always have been. I never marketed or modeled myself after another wrestler, and it’s hard to compare me to wrestlers in the past because there’s never been a wrestler like me in the past. All those same exact things I can say about Kenny Omega. We’ve never seen a Kenny Omega before, and most likely, we’ll never see another Kenny Omega ever again.”

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