4-11-24 - Rick Ucchino with Swerve Strickland

AEW's Swerve Strickland checks in with Rick Ucchino to preview his match for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship on April 21st against Samoa Joe.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
First things first. This Saturday nighttruest Arena on the campus of NKU.
It is all elite wrestling, threejam packed hours that includes two hours of
AW collision. Then Battle the Belts. Ten Oh Love this song one of
the final stops before AEW Dynasty Sunday, April twenty first in Saint Louis,

(00:20):
where my guest. At this time, we'll be taking on some moa Joe
for the AEW World Championship. SwerveStrickland joining me here on ESPN fifteen thirty.
Swerve, I can't thank you enoughfor the time. Man. How's
it going? How are we doingtoday? I'm good man. It's still
in West Virginia right now at amisflight this morning's a little mishap, so
I'm just still in the hotel waitfor my next flight. I got you,

(00:41):
I got so you will be atthe You will be at trut Arena
this weekend. Then, yes,sir, all right, I'm looking forward
to that. I love attending theseshows. Anytime AW comes to town,
I always make sure to get there. But the big day for you is
coming up on the twenty first.It is a one on one shot for
you, becoming the ae W worldchampion, and as anybody who has watched

(01:03):
you over the years, especially theselast few months on aw TV, whether
it's been Dynamite or Collision, theyknow how important this is to you,
and you are. You are rightthere. You can touch it, you
can darn near taste it. Thatchampionship belt looked damn good on your shoulder
last night at Dynamite. Being onthe verbe Let's just had a lot of
practice over the years of my careerout holding championships, so I've worked out

(01:26):
for it. Being on the vergeof accomplishing a life goal such as this,
after all the years of hard work, after all the sacrifice, you
know, how are you processing everythingand how are you attacking these final days
before you head into this big boutwith Samojo. My first and foremost is
my house, is my health,and it's my mental Those got to be

(01:46):
intact before anything else comes into play. Those are probably the most difficult,
most challenges, challenging things that anycompetitor goes to and the higher you go,
the harder it gets, So higherthe prize, the more challenges,
the more doubts, the more criticism, the more challenges are thrown at your
way, the more like, themore definitely like the vocalized, like little

(02:13):
jabs and subtle things, they geta little louder and they come in abundance.
So blocking out those things to beable to perform and compete, and
then and also train my bodies intip top conditioning. Then took my workouts
and my dieting to the whole newlevel overall all of twenty twenty three and
then going to the twenty twenty four. So I'm I'm physically ready there.

(02:38):
I've been doing a lot of thingsfor a w and put in AW primary
first. You know, I wantto be the leader of this. I
want to, Like it's hard notto be motivated with you see the influx
of talent coming through and you gotto compete with those guys to the left
and right of you, and thewomen too. So this is where I
want to be. This is whereI want to be, the top of

(02:59):
sid at the top of the show. Today pro wrestling is the healthiest it's
been in decades, and AW deservesa ton of credit for that success for
the business across the board. Youknow, competition in any medium, any
market, it's gonna lead to ahealthier product. Or a healthier business altogether.

(03:19):
It's great for the fans. It'sgreat for the talent. You know,
there's only so many spots available soto see, you know, so
many really talented people be able tofind work and feed their families and do
it on a grand stage, youknow. I mean, you guys are
on TNT and TBS every single week. You guys are continuing to grow the
product. It's it's a beautiful thingto watch and it's been a beautiful thing
to watch you know, you grow, you know, honestly throughout the project.

(03:42):
It's not really a question there,but I mean it's just been great
to watch you and the product growover these last few years. Thank you
man. I can identify with theAW in a lot of ways because,
like when I first came in,Aw's like a lot of people didn't look
at me as like to be inthe position that I am out, you
know, consistency and growth and stayingfocused and staying out of a lot of

(04:04):
bull crap really kept me going andprogressing and moving forward, putting my ego
aside, like following a lot ofhumility and just being like a team player
and like understanding where my position iswhere I want to go, but also
understanding when it's like no, I'mready, knowing when it's time to push
the limits a little bit. That'swhat AW was all about, from like

(04:26):
when I was watching and seeing itfrom like, you know, twenty twenty
one and two down twenty two whenI came in, it was about like
pushing those boundaries, challenging like theauthority and the structure of how progressing is,
breaking those things a little bit andcreating and making things your own and
then proving those naysayers wrong and doingthings your way, you know, And

(04:47):
like there was a lot of doubt, and there's a lot of things that
there's like a lot of criticisms thatface and still faces to this day,
you know. And I still facethose things to this day too. So
I can relate and see a lotof mysel from what AW is, and
so I feel like that relationship iswhat's bringing me to the forefront of for
wrestling right now, especially as anAfrican American man. We already face a

(05:11):
lot of these certain criticisms with movinggoalposts and certain things like which is discussed
about, but it's always there,those those those little talks are there,
and we see it and we've hereand I feel it. But it's to
break the mold, you know,and that's what I'm here to do.
It's worth Strickland, the future aeW World champion. As much as I
love Samoa Joe, I feel likethis is this is your time coming up

(05:35):
on the twenty first, It shouldbe your time. AW Dynasty. Uh
well, we'll get to Samoa Joehere in a second, because there's something
like I got to know about SamoaJoe. But for for those people who
you know, haven't checked out AWhere here in town, they haven't had
a chance to go check out ashow, and maybe they're used to watching

(05:55):
ww E or TNA or whatever whateverwhatever their flavor is. Because everybody,
hey, it's okay to like whatyou like, all right, but what
can they expect out of an AWshow they may not get anywhere else.
The variety, the talent, theinternational talent, the new wave of like
the new homegrown stars that have beenlike making a mark in for wrestling at

(06:17):
such a young age, you know, Like I think we are set up
for the future of pro wrestling andis one of the best ways possible.
Like a lot of the young talentbut also a lot of like the familiar
talents that you've been introduced to forthe last ten, twenty, even thirty
years. You know, like youjust had Dustin Rhodes face something against the
Mojo for the AW World title onDynamite this past Wednesday. You know,
like Dustin Roses had just put infor wrestling for years. You know,

(06:41):
Mercedes coming in Olkada from one ofthe greatest international new Japanese stars from like
to the past ten fifteen years,you know, side with AW he was
on the show last night, andyou know, myself just watching my climb
from like you know, being letgo from the like from one of the
lowest of lows you can be atin the industry to climb all the way

(07:05):
in the last two years to beinglike a headliner of a pay per viewing
dynasty in Saint Louis coming up inthe twenty first of April. That those
are big stories and that's big talentthat you're just not going to see go
with the route that they have inanywhere else. You know. You know,
WW has been entrenched in a lotof people's DNA for like forty years,

(07:26):
forty fifty years, you know,and you had that relationship with them.
If you're looking for something that's adifferent type of relationship, something that's
a little more fast paced, alittle more like variety, a little more
hard hitting, and you just likeyou want to truly invest in something that's
just like going to definitely be thenew wave and new style of things and
just a different culture all the wrestlingswhere you want to be especially like men,

(07:48):
women, like ethnicities, action,like all of it. You mentioned
the words hard hitting, and youropponent on the twenty first is Samoa Joe,
who from my is the most physicallyimposing performer in the game today,
and he's been one of them foryears now, just taking up residents at

(08:09):
the corner of f around and findout right like this. This is a
man who has told me on severaloccasions he just loves inflicting pain. This
is somebody who you have been inthe ring with great triple threat match that
I had a chance to watch inGreensboro, North Carolina a few weeks ago.
You get him one on one,you know, is it Are you
able to describe what it's like tobe in the ring with sam with Joe?

(08:31):
Words? Truly can't describe it.It's more like actions and like pictures,
you know, like I'll tell you, I'll tell you want last last
week, that contract signing. I'dnever been hit that hard by anybody else
in my life. I've been wrestlingfifteen years and I've based off against some
heavy hitters. You know, Joewas probably one of the most punishing beatdowns
I've ever received. And and thisis coming after I faced off agains him

(08:56):
in the triple threat match for theworld title. You know. Yeah,
so like now that's one on one, focus all the attentions on me,
all my attentions on him. There'sa lot of punishment that's going to be
inflicted both ways. And then youjust saw a preview what I can do
just last night on Dynamite here inWest Virginia. Like, I'm not afraid.

(09:20):
I've been hit hard, and I'vegotten back up every single time.
And that's what I got to continueto do. I got to keep getting
back up and keep jumping into thisman's face, showing them that I'm not
afraid of them and that I'm willingto hit just as hard, if not
harder. You know, Saint Louisis two weeks away, and I got
to keep showing that. That's likeI said, it doesn't get easier as
it gets closer, and the higheryou go, it gets harder. And

(09:43):
Joe's going to be hit harder justto keep that championship. And he's been
doing a fantastic job the last coupleof weeks. I've been based off against
like the hardest hitters and pro wrestlerwith Takeshta a couple of weeks before then
Joe. You know, so myjaw's feeling it a little bit more,
but I'm still up and still here, and I'm still like you know,
aw r wife wave in the flagand you know, trying to make history

(10:03):
here, you know, for sure. Swear Strickland joining me here on ESPN
fifteen thirty for a couple more minutes. Ricky Chino in for Moe Egger today,
And you know, I'm not jealousof you for you know, the
the beatings that you've had to take. But you are a multi talented person.
You know, you got your handswith the professional wrestling business. You
also have a very uh successful podcast. And what I am jealous of is

(10:26):
your next guest on the Swerve Citypodcast. Because growing up a wrestling fan,
I think I started. I've toldthis story before to others, but
like ninety six ninety seven's like whenI first started watching guys like Edge,
who goes by Adam Copeland now Christianthe Hardys, those were my dudes,
like I grew up as their careerblossomed, and Adam Copeland is forever going

(10:48):
to be on my interview a bucketlist. I hope I get to check
that off. But I know youwere also because we're roughly the same age.
I know you were also a bigEdge Adam Copeland guy growing up up.
To get to sit down and havethat interview with him, to get
to sit down and just converse withhim and have him now in the ae
W locker room, I mean,what does what has that been like?

(11:09):
Because it has to be a dreamcome true, and absolutely it absolutely is.
Like when I started my wrestling careerfifteen years ago, eighteen seventeen years
old, I was like studying Taste, and I studied a lot of like
Edge DVDs and matches and stuff.I was truly entrenched in like the Trium
a lot of matches and the youknow, the pocs and stuff. But

(11:30):
also was like in ringwork when hebecame like a singles world champion and stuff
and doing a thing, and Ijust loved everything about him. I felt
like we were very have a lotof similarities. Like ten fifteen years ago,
I was thinking that. So whenI was able to meet him at
NXT and stuff and really talk withthem, he was just tremendous. He
was everything I envisioned him to beas a person, as a human being.

(11:52):
And I was like, man,I'm proud to be a fan of
yours, proud that you know,you were the one that influenced me to
take this career path. And Itell him that all the time. But
then like him coming over to AllLait Wrestling, he's even more like we
just yelled even more, you know. I you know, I just asked
this man like last night, Iwas just like, hey, I want
to do the podcast. He waslike absolutely awesome. So so it's just

(12:18):
and it was just and that's thecool how how simple it is dealing with
him, and that's what you want. You just want, like somebody is
just simple and cool like that.So I was really, I'm really fortunate
and proud of that, you know. So those are things I actually want
to talk to him and tone tohim the podcast. I don't think I've
ever actually broke that kind of informationto him, but he's tremendous, incredible

(12:41):
talent, gifted and gifted performers.Still to this day, fifty years old,
I still look up to him aslike a big big brother, great
best friend of mine, and likelike I said, probably one of my
personal favorite additions to a w Yeah, man, just seeing him and the
work that Christian are still able todo, especially when you know they look

(13:05):
like they'd never be able to stepfoot in a ring again. Same with
Brian Danielson, all members of AllElite Wrestling SAMO with Joe until very recently,
you guys had sting that was awesomewatching his final match. Uh,
but swarve, excuse me, SwerveStrickland a name you want to look out
for. This man's the next awworld champion. Swerve. I am out
of time. I really appreciate yoursand uh look forward to seeing you know

(13:26):
on Saturday, and uh, goodluck Saint Louis on the twenty first against
them with Joe. Thank you verymuch, Thank you for having me appreciate
it. Man. Subscribe to theSource podcast YouTube dot Com back Last sor
City Podcast. Check it out.Thank you. I forgot to ask good
man. Look, it's always aboutself promotion, folks. If you don't
promote yourself, no one's gonna doit. I appreciate you follow me up

(13:46):
on that one, So take care, good luck, Thank you very much.
Uh again. Saturday night, TrustArena on the campus of NKU all
Elite wrestling. Three hours. It'sCollision followed by Battle of the Belts.
Ten tickets are available now on Ticketmasteror you can go to the NKU box
office as well. Coming up atthe top of the hour, it is
All Reds Baseball Jeff Carr Lockdown Redspodcast inside the Reds dot Com. We

(14:11):
are going to be doing our Stateof the Reds address twelve games into the
season. But next it is Brennemanand Jones on Baseball Here on ESPN fifteen
thirty. This is your Thursday