Building A Different Kind Of Trust
Strickland noted that he re-signed for “Everything” that AEW had to offer, but a major turning point was establishing a bond and a new level of trust with Tony Khan. He clarified that this trust was not simply “to do what I want on TV,” but rather a more valuable kind of trust: “It’s trust to be like, I need something done on TV that will work. You’re the guy to do it. That’s a different trust.” This moment of realization came during a singles run after his tag team with Keith Lee had split up.
Paul Wight’s Advice On John Cena
He recounted the advice from Paul Wight: “I got this information from Paul Wight, Big Show. We’re sitting at catering one day. Also, one of the times I was just coming off tagging with Keith Lee. So I was like, in that little singles void, which happens to everybody. It doesn’t happen just at AEW, it happens everywhere in wrestling. When a tag team has been tagging, then you split off into, like, Alright, what do these two guys do? Who’s going where?”
Wight shared a story about John Cena’s mindset and his direct method of communicating with the WWE Chairman. Strickland quoted Wight: “He was just like, one thing that I’ve always respected about John Cena, and you talked to the man, I was like, he always brought Vince what he wanted. He always made sure Vince got what he wanted. He’s the only guy I’ve ever seen. I sat in Gorilla and watched him, where before he would go out there, he would say, ‘Vince, what do you want? What are you looking for?’ And he would go out there and give him exactly what he was looking for, exactly what he wanted. He came back, and Vince was like, ‘That’s what I was looking for.’ So Vince was like, That’s my guy to get exactly what I’m looking for, whether you agree with it or not, whether you like it or not, he’s going to come back and give this guy what he wants. And that’s why Cena is where Cena is.”
Strickland’s Change In Mindset
This story inspired Strickland to change his perspective and approach to his own professional relationship with Tony Khan. He shifted from believing he knew the “best thing” for his character to focusing on the needs of the company. Strickland explained his new mindset: “I was like, You know what? Let me flip my mindset for like, always thinking, I know what the best thing is. Let me just find out. What does he want? Tony, what are you looking for out of this? And if it’s just a good match, cool, simple. You got it. Hey, Tony, what do you need out of this promo? I need these things. You got it. No bickering back and forth. No, I don’t think it should go this way. I was just like, No, what do you need? How do you see it happening? How much time do you want? You got it. And that’s where I started building trust with Tony. And that’s where things start opening up more and more and more.” By prioritizing Khan’s vision and delivering exactly what was asked, Strickland was able to deepen the trust, leading to more opportunities within AEW.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. To listen or watch, fans can find Insight with Chris Van Vliet on YouTube.
