For AEWs Swerve Strickland, WaleMania VII the perfect wrestling/music crossover

Swerve Strickland is ready for the solo spotlight that comes with WrestleMania weekend — just not in the ring.

The All Elite Wrestling wrestler — and former WWE Superstar — will be in Los Angeles for a different kind of “Mania.” WaleMania VII, which started in 2014 as an event for wrestling fans, wrestling podcasts and entertainers to convene, will take place Thursday at The Novo in Los Angeles. WaleMania is an event that serves as a music fest blending special appearances by wrestlers, musicians and others in and around both industries.

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Maryland-based rapper Wale is a big professional wrestling fan. WaleMania merges hip-hop and wrestlers from major promotions and the independent scene, unified by their love for sports entertainment. Hip-hop culture is trendsetting, but that audience doesn’t always follow over to professional wrestling. WaleMania brings the cultures together as part of the biggest weekend in pro wrestling.

Strickland (his real first name is Stephon) is fully immersed in both worlds. He’s held championships with WWE (the NXT North American Championship), as well as the AEW Tag Team Championship. He’s also a rapper under the name Swerve the Realest.

Album release date announcement here: #walemania pic.twitter.com/UDhPxIyTCp

— The Realest Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident) March 14, 2023

Strickland will be on stage as an artist at WaleMania after performing with rapper Monteasy, his partner on the “Swerve City Podcast” and musical mentor, last year. That doesn’t mean, there won’t be featured artists joining Strickland. He said Wale and Westside Gunn “need to get their flowers” for trying to bring wresting and rap fan bases together. Wale has partnered with WWE in the past; Gunn also has been prominent either on camera or in the front row of wrestling shows.

This is Strickland’s second time performing at WaleMania.

“I shared the stage with Monteasy last year in Dallas and played four or five songs and had a great time opening for them,” Strickland said. “This year, I’m going to be going solo a little bit.”

Strickland is excited for who might show up Thursday, and he’s looking to surprise fans — and himself. He was excited last year when members of rap group Griselda — Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher and Conway the Machine — were in attendance. Strickland said he might perform one of his more popular songs like “Grown Man Cry,” “Big Pressure” or Anthiny King’s “Trip,” on which Strickland is featured. Strickland teased that he’s working with some prominent producers and artists, so there’s no telling who might take the stage with him.

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Strickland’s the front man for the wrestling collective, Mogul Affiliates, which had influence from rapper Rick Ross. AEW also has had past appearances from rappers such as Snoop Dogg, Trina, Kevin Gates and Fabolous. Most recently, Strickland was on camera with Tech N9ne when AEW had television tapings in Kansas City, Mo., Tech N9ne’s hometown.

When will @swerveconfident and @RealKeithLee end things once and for all? Tune in to #AEWRampage on TNT! pic.twitter.com/S2QrtCeJEB

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 26, 2023

“It’s huge for wrestlers to see there’s a movement on that side, too,” Strickland said. “The fan base of wrestling is very timid when it comes to that, when it comes to hip-hop … (They) don’t understand the music, how big the artist is, or (why) the music is aggressive. The WaleManias and stuff like that brings them in and they get a little more comfortable with it.”

Strickland admitted he grew up hearing his father play 2pac tracks and listening to the likes of Cam’Ron at an age he shouldn’t have been into explicit lyrics. But that’s where his love of music was forged. When COVID-19 shut down activities in 2020, Strickland built a recording studio in his home to work on his music. He has always been intentional with his entrance music, even venturing beyond the rap world to use legendary singer Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody” on the independent wrestling scene.

"Blessing your feed with an AINT NOBODY entrance" @TERMINUSpro #Terminus2 on @FiteTV

Footage: @MalcolmMuscle pic.twitter.com/wkT3rrqef2

— The Realest Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident) February 25, 2022

But music and wrestling were connected for Strickland well before 2020. He took on the name “Swerve” after hearing rapper Big Sean say the word on the song  “Mercy” featuring Big Sean, Kanye West, Pusha T and 2 Chainz.

Partnering with Ross, on and off camera, has made for “the pinnacle” of what Strickland hoped to accomplish in AEW when he joined the promotion last March after being released by WWE. He saw the possibility of musicians crossing over into wrestling in AEW, but it’s happened faster than he imagined.

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“He is a passionate fan of wrestling, always has been,” Strickland said of Ross. “He’s so gung ho about getting involved in a lot of things; he pitches ideas. He’s all about maximizing the most out of it.”

Strickland also is intent on not being stereotyped. Mogul Affiliates include former college football player Parker Boudreaux and former professional baseball player Granden Goetzman, who wrestles under the name Trench. Boudreaux was a blue-chip high school recruit, who gained attention with his play and because of a resemblance to WWE star Brock Lesnar. The heavily-tattooed Goetzman was a second-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays. He was a part of the St. Louis and Houston minor-league systems, and he also played internationally.

Strickland knows the group isn’t conventional. He likes that. Strickland didn’t want to do what was expected, and that’s why he wanted Boudreaux and Trench with him.

Hip-hop has been a part of Strickland in the ring before AEW. He was part of the group, Hit Row, when he was with NXT and briefly when the group was called to the main roster. Strickland said it would have been “special” if they’d gotten an opportunity to work extensively on WWE’s main roster. What made them unique was no one was truly established as the leader.

Strickland was a champion in NXT, but that didn’t mean any other group member couldn’t be at the forefront.

“That’s the challenge of this business; it’s ever-changing,” he said. “Someone’s going to get over, someone’s going to come back to the roster, somebody’s going to get called up, somebody’s going to go away. It’s all about finding that lane that nobody else can offer and demolishing it.”

Strickland said he would like to see wrestling create more crossover moments, like when Ross declared his former tag team partner, Keith Lee was making “accusations, false accusations” against him. Strickland said what made wrestling a cultural force in the 1990s was not having to be a hardcore wrestling fan to know what was going on in the business.

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The “accusations” moment is such a reference Strickland sees as part of a possible cultural shift. He said he knows people who don’t watch AEW but know about he and Ross going back and forth with Lee.

“That’s a cultural crossover, and the goal is to get as much of that as possible,” Strickland said. “It’s cool to come to a wrestling show, to an AEW show. It’s cool to wear the Mogul Affiliates as part of our cultural wear.”

Strickland is looking forward to performing at WaleMania in the city of his favorite football team — the Los Angeles Rams. How does someone born in Tacoma, Wash., and who spent part of his childhood in Germany as part of a military family before settling in Pennsylvania become a Rams fan? When he started following football closely, he became a fan of the story of Kurt Warner and the “Greatest Show on Turf,” when the St. Louis Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV. Strickland said Marshall Faulk is one of his favorite players of all time.

Strickland attended the banquet after the Rams won the Super Bowl last year.

“I met Aaron Donald,” he said. “That was a real special moment.”

Strickland is planning for more special moments this week with the microphone — and many more to come in the ring.

(Photo: Johnny Nunez / Getty Images)

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