Highlights
- Swerve Strickland paid tribute to Bray Wyatt at Full Gear with his red and black ring gear, showing appreciation for Wyatt's brilliance and influence.
- Swerve had a personal connection with Bray Wyatt, having been in the locker room with him and even helping him with his Fiend mask during their time together.
- Swerve believes that Bray Wyatt's spirit powered his match at Full Gear, and his own transformation into a darker character is a testament to Wyatt's lasting legacy in the wrestling industry.
2023's match of the year might have been the recent Texas Deathmatch between Swerve Strickland and "Hangman" Adam Page at AEW Full Gear. The bloody affair has skyrocketed Swerve to the top of AEW, where many see him as the most likely one to eventually defeat MJF for his AEW World Championship. That talent wasn't the only thing about Swerve noticed at Full Gear, however, as his red and black striped ring gear was a nod to the memory of the late Bray Wyatt and his Fiend character. On social media, Swerve simply typed "RIP Bray", with a picture of the Fiend dressed up similarly next to him.
In an interview on Notsam Wrestling, Swerve Strickland went into greater detail about what Bray Wyatt meant to him, and why he honored him at Full Gear: He said:
"I didn’t know Bray as close as a lot of people like Brodie Lee... To me, I remember when The Fiend was really going, there was a lot of chatter that it wasn’t for them, as a fan. I was like, ‘No, this is brilliant work.’ I don’t think people really appreciated the brilliance he was bringing to the screen and a lot of risks he was taking, week by week, which is not easy to do... I really appreciated that and I think he was ahead of his time. I just wanted to show appreciation that the love and influence wasn’t lost. I put that as part of my gear, and I was in the locker room with him during my time at 205 [205 Live], he always gave me hugs. He was awesome. At one point, I had to help him with a Fiend mask. It was COVID and we were all in that box together. There were times I had to help him with that... I’ve seen a lot of those processes with him. He was always a good brother in the locker room. He was fun, really cool. That was one of those things of, ‘you’ve always influenced me through all of this.’ No matter what, if it was their taste or wasn’t, I’m a horror person, and I was really happy to see a new age of horror brought to the screen in an industry that I love and I was like, ‘Man, that was a revolutionary.’ I wanted to take a little piece of that into what I was doing that night. If anything, I feel like his spirit powered that match." (h/t Wrestling Headlines)
WWE Has Launched A Bray Wyatt Legacy Collection
The collection of new merch honoring the late Superstar is available now.Bray Wyatt's Legacy With Wrestlers Like Swerve Strickland
When Bray Wyatt passed away, we lost a great mind in Windham Rotunda. In an era where kayfabe and supernatural characters are dead, Bray Wyatt made fans believe again. When he passed, his legacy was felt beyond WWE, as many AEW stars tweeted memories of him, and AEW All In from London's Wembley Stadium had a beautiful firefly moment. While Swerve Strickland isn't a supernatural character, his turn to something darker and more sinister is proof that Bray Wyatt lives on.
