AEW's Swerve Strickland Discusses Conceiving Of Using Staple Gun In Hardcore Matches

Swerve Strickland has become one of the biggest stars in the industry over the past year and has earned some scars along the way. One of the most prominent weapons featured in Strickland's matches in recent months has been a staple gun, which he has used on stars like "Hangman" Adam Page and Kazuchika Okada. 

During a recent appearance on the "No-Contest Wrestling" podcast, Strickland revealed how he came up with the idea of using a staple gun as his signature weapon.

"The concept I came up with, like, I'd say back in MLW, it's an instrument used to punish," Strickland said. "Most people it works, one staple's enough for a lot of people. Me, I've been around the block, I can walk through them now. But it's also like one of those things — it's like you see this item, it's an everyday item, something that would be around the area of a ring. So I don't like bring out a cactus from under the ring, I'm like, 'Why would that be there?' No, it's something that you go, 'Oh, yeah, industrial staple [gun] would be around the ring. It's a very logical item."

Strickland hopes that the staple gun becomes his signature in the same way that a sledgehammer is linked to Triple H, the baseball bat to Sting, or the table is to The Dudley Boyz. The former AEW World Champion has also incorporated other unique weapons into his arsenal, including a cinder block and a syringe. However, the syringe ended up backfiring on him during his Lights Out Steel Cage match against Hangman Page at All Out as Page stabbed the needle into Strickland's cheek.

Please credit "No-Contest Wrestling" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.