We touched on this in our previous dream match scenarios, but within the case of AJ Styles vs. Swerve Strickland, it’d shine brighter than in another situation. Styles and his run because the leader of the Bullet Club in Latest Japan Pro Wrestling gave The Elite the platform to grow to be the celebs that they at the moment are. Without Styles, there would probably be no Elite, and without The Elite, there could be no AEW, meaning that without Styles, there would even be no AEW.
Out of everyone who has walked into All Elite Wrestling and felt like someone who has been there since its inception, Strickland is near the highest of that list. AEW is Swerve’s house, as he and Prince Nana wish to remind everyone, but consider it like this; without Styles, there is not any Elite, without The Elite, there is not any AEW, without AEW, there is not any place for Strickland to grow to be the person that he’s now. AEW is likely to be Swerve’s house nevertheless it’s built on the land that AJ Styles planted within the mid-2010s, no matter whether Styles has been in the corporate or not.
That may very well be the right story for something like this, and what it could also do is it could allow Strickland to tap into his heel persona a bit more. As beloved as he’s and for the quantity of fanfare that comes with him, Strickland operates at his most dangerous when he’s a heel. Having a heel Strickland in a situation like this would not just bring out the very best version of him, but are AEW fans, individuals who have probably followed Styles’ profession since before he was in TNA, Ring of Honor, and even WCW for some, are those fans really going to need to boo Styles? In fact not. He’s ok to make them boo him needless to say, and if he desired to are available in and say something like “I made this place nevertheless it wasn’t WWE so I stayed there,” that might get heat, it just would not be interesting.
As an alternative, you’ll be able to have Styles are available in and almost be pleased with someone like Strickland. He would have watched him from afar, possibly even seen him on “WWE SmackDown” as a part of Hit Row and thought he needed a change of scenery, only to go on and grow to be one in all the most important names in the whole industry. Styles may very well be genuinely joyful to see Strickland grow to be the primary black AEW World Champion, the primary black man to headline a show at Wembley Stadium, the person who personifies what the vision of AEW was when it first began.
But what would Strickland see? An old veteran taking credit for all of his success. An outsider coming to take his spot. Someone who told the world in one other company that he was done only to show around and deceive them by unretiring. It’s resentment that might move this type of story forward quickly.