Isaiah Scott

Stephon Strickland (September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Swerve Strickland. He was previously signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Isaiah Scott. For most of his early career on the independent circuit, he has used the ring name Shane Strickland. He also appeared in Lucha Underground under the ring name Killshot.
== Professional wrestling career ==
=== Combat Zone Wrestling (2012-2019) ===
Strickland debuted in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) on February 4, 2012. On March 8, 2014 Strickland won his first championship in CZW at CZW High Stakes 5 where he defeated Devon Moore to win the CZW Wired Championship. Strickland would go on to feud with Joe Gacy over the CZW Wired Championship which saw them win and lose the championship back and forth from each other until Gacy defeated Strickland one last time for the championship at CZW Cage Of Death XVI. Strickland would go one to achieve his greatest success in CZW by winning the CZW World Heavyweight Championship when he defeated Gacy, Lio Rush and Davey Richards in a four-way match. He held the championship for over four months before losing it to Gacy.
=== Evolve (2012-2019) ===
In 2012 Strickland debuted in Evolve. Strickland wrestled on and off in Evolve until achieving his biggest success on August 4, 2018 when he defeated Matt Riddle to win Evolve Championship at EVOLVE 108. Strickland successfully defended the Evolve Championship at EVOLVE 111 against DJ Z and at EVOLVE 113 against Tracy Williams before losing it to Fabian Aichner at EVOLVE 114.
=== Lucha Underground (2015-2018) ===
In 2015 Strickland debuted in Lucha Underground under a mask as Killshot. The character of Killshot was he was a military veteran who wore camouflage and dog tags. He formed a team with Big Ryck and The Mack but the team saw little success. Kilshot received a letter from a former friend named Dante Fox who came to Lucha Underground to challenge Killshot. Killshot would feud with Fox and ultimately defeat him at Ultima Lucha 3. The Mack brokered peace between the two rivals and led them to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship. However, Fox faded away from the team leaving Killshot and The Mack without a partner to defend the Lucha Underground Trios Championship. This led to Son of Havoc joining the team and successfully defending the trios championships. Tensions within the team began to build as Killshot believed The Mack favored Son of Havoc over him. This led to the team losing the trios championships to The Reptile Tribe (Kobra Moon, Daga and Jeremiah Snake). Frustrated over the loss Killshot began a feud with Son of Havoc, splitting up the team in the process. This led to a mask vs. mask match at Ultima Lucha Cuatro Part 1 which Son of Havoc won. As a result, Killshot unmasked and left Lucha Underground forever.
=== Major League Wrestling (2017-2019) ===
When Major League Wrestling (MLW) returned in late 2017 Strickland joined their roster. In January 2018 MLW announced there would be an eight-man tournament to crown a new MLW World Heavyweight champion. Strickland won the tournament and the championship, going on to hold it for over three months before losing it to Low Ki.
=== World Wrestling Entertainment ===
==== NXT (2019-2021)====
Strickland debuted in a dark match before the May 15 episode of NXT, losing to fellow recruit Trevor Lee. After two more house matches, Strickland debuted his new ring name as Isaiah Scott during a June 6 house show, teaming with Brennan Williams in a tag match defeating Elliot Sexton & Jonah Rock. 
Scott competed on the January 15 episode of NXT, in a triple threat qualifier match defeating Lio Rush and Tyler Breeze. He earned a spot in the fatal four-way match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship held at Worlds Collide against Jordan Devlin, Travis Banks and the defending champion Angel Garza. Between the April and May episodes of NXT, Scott competed in a NXT Cruiserweight Title Tournament, finishing with a 1-2 win-loss record after competing in singles matches against participants Akira Tozawa, El Hijo del Fantasma and Jack Gallagher respectively.
The following year, Scott's next title shot was during the August 26 episode of NXT in a unsuccessful challenge against the defending champion Santos Escobar. His rematch was held at TakeOver 31 where he again lost to the champion. 
On January 13, Scott teamed with Jake Atlas during the sixth annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Tournament where they were eliminated in the first round by Nash Carter & Wes Lee. After losing a Gauntlet elimination match to determine the Number One Contender for the NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, Scott still received a title shot. The match was held on the June 29 episode of NXT where Scott defeated Bronson Reed to become the new NXT North American Champion.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing and signature moves
**House Call (Running Single leg dropkick to the back of the opponents head)
**Swerve Stomp (Diving Foot Stomp to head of seated opponent)
**JML Driver / Storm Cradle Driver (Half Nelson Wheelbarrow Driver) ~Sometimes preceded by an Electric Chair Hold~
**Calamity Trigger (Volador Spiral)
**Jumping DDT
**Axe Kick
**Space Jam (Tombstone Lungblower)
*Nicknames
**"The New Flavor"
**"King of Swerve" / "King of Swerve Style"
**Weapon of Mass Destruction (as Killshot)
*Entrance music
**"I Want You Back" by The Jackson Five
**"Swerve" by Monteasy
**"Ain't Nobody" by Chaka Khan
**"Light Up The Night" by PRS (2019)
**"Swervin On 'Em" by DJDPT  (2020)
*Tag teams and stables
**The Unwanted - with Eddie Kingston, Joe Gacy and Colby Corino
==Championships and accomplishments==
*All Elite Wrestling
**AEW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Keith Lee
*Combat Zone Wrestling
**CZW Wired TV Championship (2 times)
**CZW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*DEFY Wrestling
**DEFY 8xGP Championship (2 times)
*Evolve
**Evolve Championship (1 time)
*Lucha Underground
**Lucha Underground Trios Championship (1 time) with The Mack and Dante Fox
*Major League Wrestling
**MLW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*NXT
**NXT North American Championship (1 time)
*PCW ULTRA
**PCW ULTRA Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**PCW ULTRA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI ranked him #340 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2014 & 2015
**PWI ranked him #112 in the 2023 PWI Top 500 Wrestlers
*Vicious Outcast Wrestling
**VOW Hyper Sonic Championship (1 time)
*Westside Xtreme Wrestling
**wXw World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - With David Starr
*WrestleCircus
**WC Ringmaster Championship (1 time)
==External links==
* Profile
* Profile
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