Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland will finally face off in singles action at Saturday night’s AEW Worlds End 2023 pay-per-view event.
In a storyline that has seemed to last an eternity, Strickland and Lee will attempt to settle their differences after the feud was put on hold after Swerve faced off against Hangman Page and then competed in the AEW Continental Classic tournament.
During Thursday’s media call to promote Saturday’s Worlds End 2023 pay-per-view event, AEW President Tony Khan commented on booking the match now after such a long delay, why he wouldn’t change a thing, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the media call below:
On booking the match now after the long delay in the feud: “Yeah, absolutely. I think now is the right time for Swerve — well, for both of them just because last night the Continental Classic Gold League finals I thought was one of the best matches on the show, and so was the Blue League finals. Swerve on Dynamite in the Gold League has been tearing the house down, pun intended. It has been Swerve’s house and he’s been tearing it down.
“The timing of it is by design. We’ve been trying to build both men. Swerve has had a meteoric rise unlike anybody in AEW or in pro wrestling. It has been very organic, and he has earned the position.”
On Keith Lee: “I have been so enthusiastic about AEW Collision and Keith Lee being regularly presented on Collision is something I love and something that has been very successful for the show when you look at the ratings growth we’ve had, the success we’ve had with ‘Collision’ rising in the ratings despite the competition getting undisputedly tougher and tougher.”
On Strickland’s momentum of late: “Coming out of the Continental Classic, Swerve is on fire and I thought it’d be perfect to go into Worlds End with Keith still in the chase. He’s had these great matches recently. We didn’t know who ‘him’ was even though we all suspected who ‘him’ was. Both guys have been doing tremendous and for the company, it’s a great time to go to the match coming out of the Continental Classic… Frankly, I think that the timing is right because had I gone to the match at another time and place, I wouldn’t do anything differently in terms of what we’ve done with Swerve. I think it’s been perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
