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Actor

1990-09-30 · Tacoma, Washington, United States · Male

6 series in the catalog

Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990), better known by his ring name Swerve Strickland, is an American professional wrestler and rapper. As of March 2022, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is one-third of the reigning AEW World Trios Champions alongside The New Level (Austin Creed and Kofi).

Strickland began his career in 2008 as Shane Strickland, working for several independent promotions until 2019 such as Major League Wrestling (MLW), Evolve Wrestling, and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). He is a one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion, one-time Evolve Champion, and one-time CZW World Heavyweight Champion. From 2014 until 2018, he performed in Lucha Underground as a masked wrestler named Killshot. In 2019, he signed a developmental contract with WWE, where he worked as Isaiah "Swerve" Scott in NXT and was part of the Hit Row stable; he won the NXT North American Championship once and was soon promoted to the main roster on SmackDown, but was released in November 2021.

Under the ring name Swerve Strickland, he signed with AEW in March 2022, going on to become a one-time AEW World Champion, a one-time AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee), and a one-time AEW World Trios Champion (with Austin Creed and Kofi), subsequently being the third AEW Triple Crown Champion. He was the leader of the Mogul Embassy stable until May 2024.

Early life

Stephon Strickland was born in Tacoma, Washington, on September 30, 1990. He is the cousin of former NFL linebacker Fred Strickland. His father, who was a sergeant first class cook in the United States Army, moved the family to Germany when Strickland was two months old to live on a U.S. military base in Frankfurt. Strickland spent the first seven years of his life in Germany. The family later returned to the U.S. and settled in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, where he attended Donegal High School. He danced in talent shows and excelled in football, basketball, and track and field.

Shortly after graduating high school, Strickland enlisted in the United States Army Reserve at the age of 17. He completed his United States Army Basic Training in South Carolina, then underwent 22 weeks of Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. He was then stationed in York, Pennsylvania, where he served as a 25U Signal Support Systems Specialist for eight years. He left the Reserve in 2015.

Professional wrestling career

Training and early career (2008–2012)

Strickland decided to become a professional wrestler when he was 18 years old. He began training at Ground Xero (Zero) Wrestling Training Academy in August 2008, doing so while still serving in the United States Army Reserve. He soon began getting bookings around the Maryland and Pennsylvania areas. He had Army Reserve commitments in York, Pennsylvania, which obliged him to wrestle only in that general area's independent circuit in the early years of his career. In September 2011, Strickland made his first appearance with the National Wrestling Alliance, losing to Phil Brown. In March 2012, he defeated Alex Payne in his debut for East Coast Wrestling Association. He would go to debut for World Xtreme Wrestling in a six-man match on September 15, 2012.

Combat Zone Wrestling (2012–2017, 2019)

Strickland made his Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) debut on February 4, 2012, in a dark match. On March 10, 2012, at Aerial Assault, Strickland participated in the main event, a Best Of The Best 11 Qualifying Aerial Assault Elimination Match won by Samuray del Sol. On November 10, 2012, at Night of Infamy 11, Strickland participated in a CZW Wired TV Open Challenge, but was defeated by the champion A. R. Fox. At Best of the Best 12, Strickland participated in the Best of the Best tournament, but he was defeated in the first round by Alex Colon.

On September 14, 2013, at Down with the Sickness, Strickland participated in the main event a Chris Cash Memorial Fatal 4 Way Ladder match for the CZW Wired TV Championship, but the match was won by Colon. At Cage of Death XV, Colon defeated Strickland in a title match. On March 8, 2014, at High Stakes, Strickland defeated the CZW Wired Champion Devon Moore to win the title for the first time. At Best of the Best XIII, Strickland retained the title against Moore in a Ladder match.

Then, Strickland started a feud with Joe Gacy. At Dojo Wars 6, Strickland lost the title against Gacy. However, Strickland regained the title two weeks later at Dojo Wars 7. In October 2014, Strickland participated in the World Triangle Tournament, a tournament held by Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling and Big Japan Pro-Wrestling. Strickland ended with 3 point in the Block B. Finally, at Cage of Death XVI, Gacy defeated Strickland for the title. After a lengthy absence in which he wrestled for WXW in Germany, Strickland made a one-time appearance in 2015 in a victory over David Starr.

In 2016, Strickland had an acclaimed series of matches with Dezmond Xavier and in the 2017 Best of the Best tournament, he made it to the finals before losing to Dave Crist. In July that same year, he then went on to defeat Gacy, Lio Rush, and Davey Richards in a 4-way to win the CZW World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. He held on to the title until November before losing to Gacy, who then immediately lost the title to Rickey Shane Page. Page then challenged both men to a Cage Of Death match for the title, which Strickland was unsuccessful at winning. Strickland's final appearance in CZW was at CZW Twenty, in a victory against KC Navarro.

Independent circuit (2012–2019)

On May 5, 2012, Strickland made his debut for Evolve Wrestling, where he teamed with Latin Dragon to defeat DMC and Nate Carter. On August 4, 2018, Strickland defeated Matt Riddle to win the Evolve Championship at Evolve 108. At Evolve 114 he lost the championship to NXT's Fabian Aichner, ending his three-month reign. Strickland wrestled NXT's Kassius Ohno at Evolve 116 on November 10, 2018, in a losing effort. After not appearing for three months, Strickland returned to Evolve at Evolve 121 on February 15, 2019, to face NXT's Adam Cole. He would be defeated by Cole and the following night he would defeat A. R. Fox. He faced JD Drake at Evolve 126 for the WWN Championship in a match he lost.

In 2016, Strickland made his debut in Germany for Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), taking part in the 16 Carat Gold tournament and later their World Tag Team League, which he won alongside David Starr. They beat many established teams such as, Angélico and Jack Evans, Ringkampf (Timothy Thatcher and Walter), Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) and The Leaders of the New School (Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr.). Shane Strickland would challenge Cody Rhodes, at the inaugural Defy event, Defy1 in a loss. During 2017's WrestleMania 33 three-day weekend, he wrestled seven matches for five different promotions, including four in one day. On August 25, 2018, Strickland appeared at Triplemanía XXVI. He and A. C. H. appeared at that event to represent Major League Wrestling through the MLW and AAA partnership. They were in a Four-way match for the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. Strickland would fail to capture the championship. On March 23, 2019, Strickland competed for The Crash Lucha Libre in fatal-4-way for The Crash Cruiserweight Championship.

Strickland won the PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Championship on March 26, 2018. Two months later at their next event he defended against Douglas James with Ricky Steamboat as the guest referee. He finished the year with successful defenses against Dragon Lee, Flip Gordon, Rey Horus and Darby Allin, among others. On December 7, 2018, Strickland defeated Pentagon Jr. for the PCW Ultra Heavyweight Championship, becoming a double champion as he was still holding the Light Heavyweight Championship. He would vacate the Light Heavyweight Championship shortly after, and he defended the Ultra Heavyweight…