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A former WWE NXT champion who made his surprise AEW debut in 2023 has revealed his thought process behind his decision to join Tony Khan's promotion secretly.
The four-time champion in question is Roderick Strong. The 40-year-old made his AEW debut in April of last year on an episode of Dynamite. Before that, he was a vital part of the WWE NXT roster, where he became a four-time champion before leaving the company in 2022.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insights recently, Roderick Strong disclosed an interesting story about keeping his AEW debut a secret last year. Here is what Strong revealed:
“It was just a situation of [sic] like, when my contract came up with WWE, I was injured. So I wasn’t even sure if I could wrestle again. So then it was one of those things that, once I got cleared, it was kind of what is best for me at this time. And through the injury and stuff, I went through a huge self-reflective period, just of who I was at the time and where I needed to go, just for life."
Roderick further revealed:
"And then that’s kind of when the decision to go to AEW was a little bit easier for me because it was like, 'I want to use all the knowledge I’ve acquired over these years now. I can’t do that in WWE!' but it was just a different opportunity to have a little bit more freedom in that sense. And really, put me in a situation that happened, where I’m doing something outside of the box, and it’s by choice and really being able to grow and lean into it. I don’t know; it was just amazing.” [H/T ChrisVanVliet.com]
Former WWE NXT champion is set for a major title match this Sunday
Former WWE NXT champion Roderick Strong is currently aligned with the Adam Cole-led faction, Undisputed Kingdom, alongside The Kingdom and Wardlow. The new faction has been targeting multiple stars.
This Sunday at Revolution, Roddy is slated to challenge Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship.
Henceforth, it remains to be seen if Strong will succeed in winning his first-ever title in AEW by defeating Orange Cassidy nearly a year after his debut.
Do you want to see Roderick Strong become the new AEW International Champion? Sound off in the comments section below.
