Swerve has first AEW world title defense after calling out The Elite for their ‘b*tch move’

Swerve Strickland kicked off tonight’s (Apr. 27) episode of Collision with his first interview as the new AEW world champion. He was welcomed to the ring with a “Thank you, Swerve!” chant from the live audience at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.

Strickland recapped AEW’s big week, going over some of the results from Dynasty and Dynamite, including Jack Perry’s surprise return. In doing so, he referred to the The Elite’s shocking attack on Tony Khan as a “bitch move.”

Swerve then issued an open challenge for a world title match, which was answered by Claudio Castagnoli. That set the stage for the Collision main event.

They had an excellent match, with a thrilling closing sequence. Claudio kicked out of a Swerve Stomp and then took the champ on a ride in the Giant Swing.

Castagnoli caught Swerve out of mid-air on the next stomp attempt and turned it into the Swiss Death uppercut for a near fall. Swerve turned the tables from there, countering Claudio’s next attempt at Swiss Death into the Swerve Stomp. The champ then put Claudio away with the House Call. The two stars shook hands after the fight.

The AEW commentators said on next week’s (May 1) Dynamite we’ll find out who Strickland is defending the belt against at May’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. Perhaps that’s when we’ll see if Swerve’s line about The Elite is leading to something right away, or if it’s planting a seed for down the line.

What did you think of Swerve’s very busy night as AEW world champion, Cagesiders?