Training and early career (2008–2012) Strickland decided to become a
professional wrestler when he was 18 years old. 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. 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.). 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 Championship at their A2K19 event on January 18, 2019, against
Brian Cage. On March 9, 2019, Strickland gave a farewell speech at a
DEFY Wrestling event, indicating he will soon be signing with a major company. At Wrestle Summit 2019, he appeared as PCW Ultra roster member. At the event he lost his PCW Ultra Heavyweight Championship to
Mil Muertes. Following Wrestle Summit, Strickland revealed that on April 6, he will wrestle for Wrestling Revolver at WrestleCon's Pancakes and Piledrivers event. In the match, he teamed with
Joe Gacy and
Eddie Kingston to face-off against
oVe, in what was promoted as his last match on the independent circuit.
Lucha Underground (2014–2018) Strickland participated in
El Rey Network professional wrestling television series
Lucha Underground. Strickland became a central character on Lucha Underground, as one of a small group of characters to appear in every season. During the first season, he aligned with
Big Ryck and
Willie Mack and participated in a tournament for the LU Trios Championship, but they were defeated in the finales by the eventual winners
Angélico,
Son of Havoc and
Ivelisse. Following the first season, Strickland asked head writer Chris DeJoseph if he could write some background and story for his character. This led to it having more military elements. On episode 32 of MLW's weekly program
MLW Fusion, Strickland faced Low Ki in rematch for the Heavyweight title. However, after a distraction, Ki "ripped" out some of Strickland's hair and rolled him up for the win. After the match, Strickland grabbed a microphone and begun a
worked shoot towards MLW management turning
heel in the process. He mentioned owner
Court Bauer and blamed management for his bad luck as of late. He ended the promo with, "As of right now, I am terminating my contract and I'm.." as his microphone got cut off. Strickland proceeded to throw trash at the MLW employees that were confronting him, he
fliped off one of them and hopped the rail into the audience and left. They followed this up two weeks later on
Fusion with a scene of Strickland and Court Bauer arguing behind his closed office door. After this, it was stated he was "contractly obligated" to appear at the December 13, 2018, MLW event, Never Say Never. At the event he was defeated by
CMLL luchador
Rush. This match aired on
MLW Fusion on January 18, 2019. Strickland opened the show with a heel promo disparaging the fans and the city until he was interrupted by Rush. This would be Strickland's last regular appearance in MLW. Strickland returned to MLW in March, 2022 at
Intimidation Games, appearing as the mystery opponent for
Myron Reed's
MLW World Middleweight Championship in a losing effort, and aligning himself with
Azteca Underground's
Cesar Duran.
WWE (2019–2021) On April 17, 2019, it was announced that he signed a contract with
WWE and begun working at their
Performance Center, and his ring name was changed to
Isaiah "
Swerve"
Scott. He wrestled his debut match against
Cameron Grimes, a dark match that took place before the May 1 NXT television tapings. In June, it was announced that Scott would compete in a tournament named
NXT Breakout Tournament, where he made his debut on the July 3 episode of
NXT, but lost to Cameron Grimes in the first round of the tournament. On the July 23 episode of
205 Live, he debuted on the
brand by losing to
Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak. At
Worlds Collide on January 25, 2020, Scott challenged for the Cruiserweight Championship in a fatal four way match against
Travis Banks,
Jordan Devlin, and then-champion
Angel Garza, but was unsuccessful. On April 12, Scott was announced as a participant in a tournament to determine the
interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion, representing Group B in the tournament, where he was defeated by
Akira Tozawa and
Gentleman Jack Gallagher, but was able to defeat
El Hijo del Fantasma (who had also worked for Lucha Underground under the name King Cuerno), leaving him with one win in the tournament, thus failing to advance to the finals. Scott then began feuding with Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar, El Hijo del Fantasma's new ring name, after Scott claimed to be the only one who has pinned Escobar. On the August 26 episode of
NXT, Scott challenged Escobar for the title but lost after Escobar hit him with a loaded mask. On the September 1 episode of
NXT Super Tuesday, Scott and Breezango (
Tyler Breeze and
Fandango) defeated Legado del Fantasma in a Six-Man Street Fight after Scott once again pinned Escobar, thus earning Scott a title shot at
NXT TakeOver: 31. At the event, he lost to Escobar. Scott then entered the
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, where he was paired with
Jake Atlas, but the two were eliminated from the tournament by the eventual winner
MSK (
Nash Carter and
Wes Lee) and following the match, argued with one another. On the February 17, 2021, episode of
NXT, Scott attacked
Leon Ruff after losing a match to him, turning
heel in the process. At
NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver, Scott would participated in a 6 Way match, where he eliminated Ruff and Cameron Grimes but would be last person eliminated in the match by
Bronson Reed. On the May 4 episode of
NXT, Scott defeated Ruff in a Falls Count Anywhere match after
A. J. Francis interfered on Scott's behalf. The following week, Scott was joined by Francis (who was now called Top Dolla), Tehuti Miles (now called
Ashante "Thee" Adonis) and Briana Brandy (now
B-Fab), forming the stable
Hit Row. On the June 29 episode of
NXT, Scott defeated Bronson Reed to win the
NXT North American Championship, his first title in his WWE career. As part of the
2021 Draft, Scott along with the rest of Hit Row, were drafted to the
SmackDown brand. On the October 12 episode of
NXT, he defeated Santos Escobar to retain his NXT North American championship, only to lose to
Carmelo Hayes, ending his 105-day reign. On November 4, B-Fab was released from her WWE contract, shortening the group. Two weeks later on November 18, Scott was released from his WWE contract along with Adonis and Dolla.
Return to the independent circuit (2022–present) On February 13, 2022, Strickland made his return to DEFY Wrestling after three years, confronting
Darby Allin and
Nick Wayne. On October 8 at DEFY City of Thorns, Strickland defeated
Christopher Daniels to become the new
interim DEFY World Champion. On November 26 at DEFY Fightwave, Strickland won a
six-way ladder match to become the undisputed DEFY World Champion, officially starting his third reign holding the title. On April 8, 2023 at DEFY The Realest, Strickland lost the title to Nick Wayne, ending his reign at 133 days. Strickland made an appearance at the
House of Glory (HOG) event
High Intensity on July 26, 2024, defeating
Amazing Red.
All Elite Wrestling (2022–present) Swerve In Our Glory and Mogul Affiliates (2022–2023) On March 6, 2022, Strickland signed with
All Elite Wrestling (AEW), debuting under the new name Swerve Strickland at the
Revolution pay-per-view event. He made his in-ring debut for AEW on the March 11 episode of
Rampage, defeating
Tony Nese. The following week, Strickland aligned himself with
Keith Lee in a feud with
Team Taz (
Powerhouse Hobbs and
Ricky Starks). Strickland and Lee would then begin tag teaming, dubbing themselves "Swerve In Our Glory". In April 2022, Strickland made his debut for AEW's sister promotion,
Ring of Honor (ROH), defeating
Alex Zayne at
Supercard of Honor XV. At
Dynamite: Fyter Fest Night 1 on July 13, Swerve In Our Glory defeated defending champions
The Young Bucks and Team Taz in a
Triple or Nothing match to win the
AEW World Tag Team Championship. They had successful title defenses against the likes of
The Lucha Brothers and the
Gunn Club (
Colten and
Austin Gunn). They would then enter a three match series with The Acclaimed (
Max Caster and
Anthony Bowens), defeating them at
All Out, losing the belts to them in a rematch at
Dynamite: Grand Slam, and losing to them once more at
Full Gear after Strickland slapped Lee when Lee refused to use
pliers as a weapon, causing Lee to walk out on the match. The following month, at the ROH event
Final Battle, Swerve In Our Glory faced Shane Taylor Promotions. During the match, Strickland followed suit, walking out on Lee after a sequence of friendly fire attacks between the two, causing Lee to narrowly defeat Shane Taylor Promotions. On the December 21, 2022, edition of
Dynamite, Strickland turned on Lee, forming a new stable, "Mogul Affiliates", with
Parker Boudreaux,
Granden Goetzman (Later named Trench), and the rapper
Rick Ross. Strickland feuded with Lee until March 2023, when he and Boudreaux lost to Lee and
Dustin Rhodes.
Mogul Embassy and AEW World Champion (2023–2024) In April 2023, Mogul Affiliates merged with
Prince Nana's stable
The Embassy to create
Mogul Embassy. Strickland began a feud with
Sting and
Darby Allin, starting when Allin defeated Strickland on the April 12 edition of
Dynamite. On May 28 at
Double or Nothing, Stickland competed in the
21-man Blackjack Battle Royal for the
AEW International Championship, but was lastly eliminated by
Orange Cassidy, who retained the title. Strickland received a match for the title on the June 7 edition of
Dynamite, but lost when he was defeated by Cassidy. After the match, Strickland and The Mogul Embassy attacked Cassidy only to be chased off by Allin and Sting. The following month, Strickland was forced to reteam with Keith Lee in the
Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament, but the duo were quickly eliminated by Allin and Cassidy. The following week, Strickland defeated Allin's protege and rival on the independent scene
Nick Wayne. On the July 26 edition of
Dynamite, Strickland avenged his loss to Allin, by defeating him. The feud further intensified when Allin's ally, AR Fox betrayed Allin, joining The Mogul Embassy. On August 23, Strickland and Fox lost to Allin and Wayne, causing Strickland to kick Fox out of Mogul Embassy, ending their short term alliance, ahead of the duo's match against Allin and Sting at
All In. Soon after,
Christian Cage was announced as Fox's replacement as Strickland's partner at the event. On August 27, 2023, at All In, Strickland and Cage lost to Allin and Sting in a
coffin match, after Strickland was shut in the coffin. Strickland returned, for the first time since being placed in the coffin at All In, on the September 6 edition of
Dynamite, confronting
"Hangman" Adam Page. Strickland berated Page, claiming that if he was given the same opportunities as him, he would be the "first black
AEW World Champion". Upon further mocking Page, Mogul Embassy member Brian Cage ambushed Page. The following week, Strickland once again confronted Page during his match with Brian Cage. Following Page's victory, Strickland challenged him to a match at
WrestleDream on October 1. Before Page could respond, Cage attacked him, though he was saved by The Young Bucks. The feud intensified at
Rampage: Grand Slam, where
The Elite (Page and The Young Bucks) defeated Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) to win the
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. On the September 27 edition of
Dynamite, Strickland and Page met in the ring for a contract signing to confirm their match at WrestleDream. The two insulted one another, leading to Page stabbing Strickland's hand with a pen. On October 1 at WrestleDream in Strickland's home state of
Washington, Strickland defeated Page. On November 18 at
Full Gear, Strickland defeated Page in a
Texas Deathmatch. The match was acclaimed and but received backlash and some mainstream media attention for a moment in which Page cut open Strickland's forehead and drank his blood. Strickland stated that telling people to avoid watching the match would have the
opposite effect, and compared it to telling children not to go and see "a new insane horror movie". Strickland participated in the first
Continental Classic tournament, where he finished joint top of his block with 12 points, allowing him to advance to the semifinal round. In the semifinal round, Strickland lost in a triple threat match to
Jon Moxley, eliminating him from the tournament. On December 30 at
Worlds End, Strickland was originally scheduled to face Keith Lee; as Lee was not medically cleared to compete, he was replaced by
Dustin Rhodes, who Strickland defeated. On the February 7, 2024, episode of
Dynamite, Strickland wrestled Adam Page with the winner facing
Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship at
Revolution. However, their match went to a 30-minute time limit draw; as a result, both men were declared number one contenders with Joe in turn scheduled to defend the AEW World Championship against both in a three-way match, which was won by Joe. at
All In in August 2024 At Dynasty, Strickland defeated Samoa Joe to capture the AEW World Championship. By defeating Samoa Joe, Strickland became the first recognized African-American AEW World Champion. On the April 27 episode of
AEW Collision, Strickland defeated
Claudio Castagnoli in his first title defense. On the May 1 episode of
Dynamite, Strickland's opponent at
Double or Nothing on May 26 was revealed to be Christian Cage. On the May 8 episode of
Dynamite, Strickland was assaulted by Brian Cage, Bishop Kaun, and Toa Liona, resulting in the disbanding of Mogul Embassy and turning Strickland face. On May 26 at the event, Strickland successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Christian Cage. On June 30 at
Forbidden Door, Strickland successfully defended his title against
Will Ospreay. On August 25 at
All In, he was defeated by Danielson via submission which was his first submission loss in AEW, ending his reign at 126 days. Earlier in the day on the Zero Hour pre-show, it was shown that Strickland had re-signed with AEW in what was later reported by Fightful Select to be a multi-year deal and one of the biggest deals in AEW history.
Various feuds (2024–2025) During Strickland's match at All In, Adam Page made an appearance, distracted Strickland, which allowed Danielson to gain the upper hand. On the August 28 episode of
Dynamite, Strickland confronted Page and challenged him to a
steel cage match at
All Out on September 7, which was later made official. On the September 4 episode of
Dynamite, a contract signing was set for the cage match between Strickland and Page. While Strickland arrived to sign the contract, Page didn't show up as he was at Strickland's childhood house, which Strickland had just recently purchased. Page proceeded to burn down the house as Strickland watched in horror. This forced AEW president Tony Khan to not sanction their steel cage match at All Out, turning the match into a
lights out steel cage match On September 7 at All Out, Strickland lost to Page, ending their year-long feud. After a brief hiatus, Strickland returned on October 12 at
WrestleDream, where he started a feud with the debuting stable
The Hurt Syndicate (
Bobby Lashley,
MVP, and
Shelton Benjamin). On October 30 at
Fright Night Dynamite, Strickland defeated Benjamin, but would be attacked by a debuting Lashley afterwards. On November 23 at
Full Gear, Strickland was defeated by Lashley. After losing to Lashley, Strickland began a feud with
Ricochet. On the February 5, 2025 episode of
Dynamite, Strickland was defeated by Ricochet, who proceeded to steal the "Embassy" robe that Strickland wore in honor of
Jimmy Rave. On March 9 at
Revolution, Strickland defeated Ricochet, regaining the robe and earning a shot at the AEW World Championship. Later in the show, Strickland attacked reigning champion Jon Moxley after his successful title defense. On April 6 at
Dynasty, in a controversial main event, Strickland failed to defeat Moxley after interference from
The Young Bucks (Matthew and Nicholas Jackson). On May 25 at
Double or Nothing, Strickland teamed with
Kenny Omega,
Willow Nightingale, and
The Opps (
Samoa Joe,
Powerhouse Hobbs, and
Katsuyori Shibata) to defeat the
Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli,
Marina Shafir, and
Wheeler Yuta) and The Young Bucks in an
Anarchy in the Arena match. After Double or Nothing, Strickland began a storyline with Will Ospreay after refusing to join Ospreay in assisting Adam Page against the Death Riders, due to Strickland and Page's past rivalry. This led to a match between the two on June 11 at
Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster, where the bout ended in a time-limit draw. After the match, Strickland and Ospreay were both attacked by The Young Bucks, leading to a tag match being scheduled for
All In on July 12, where Strickland and Ospreay defeated The Young Bucks. Per the added stipulation of the match, The Young Bucks were stripped of their executive vice presidents positions of AEW (in
kayfabe). In the main event world title match between Jon Moxley and Adam Page, Strickland made an appearance, prevented The Young Bucks from interfering, and proceeded to hand a chain to Page that he would use to submit Moxley. On August 24 at
Forbidden Door, Strickland unsuccessfully challenged
Kazuchika Okada for the
AEW Unified Championship. Following Forbidden Door, Strickland took time off to have a
torn meniscus that he had been dealing with since 2019 surgically repaired. On November 22 at
Full Gear, Strickland made his return after a three-month hiatus, confronting AEW World Champion
Samoa Joe following his title winning victory over Adam Page. That night, he debuted a new theme song that featured
Wu-Tang Clan rapper
Raekwon. On December 27 at
Worlds End, Strickland failed to win the AEW World Championship in a four-way match, which was won by
MJF.
Heel turn (2026–present) In February 2026, Strickland began a feud with Kenny Omega. On the February 18, 2026 episode of
Dynamite, Strickland defeated Omega. After the match, Strickland continued to attack Omega, turning heel in the process. At
Revolution on March 15, Strickland defeated
Brody King. Following his Revolution victory over King, Strickland initially became the new number one contender for the AEW World Championship, only to lose that title in a rematch against Omega on the March 25 episode of
Dynamite. After a brief one-month absence, Strickland returned in a vignette on the April 29 episode of
Dynamite, where he teased targeting Brody King's tag team partner
Bandido. == Personal life ==