Those concerned that the indy takeover has slowed in its tracks will be reinvigorated upon reading this. Ring Of Honor stalwart Roderick Strong’s arrival in the WWE is reportedly imminent.
The thirteen-year ROH veteran (he first wrestled there in 2003) was given a send-off at a recent Pro Wrestling Guerilla event. Dave Meltzer said on the latest edition of his podcast that “it's pretty clear that Roderick Strong is going to the WWE”. Here’s a video:
Hailed as “Mr. ROH” and the “MVP of ROH”, Strong captured the ROH World Television Championship twice, the ROH Tag Team Championship once and the ROH World Championship once as well.
Strong faced several A-list WWE Superstars in during his time in ROH including CM Punk, AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, most memorable amongst them being the three wars with Daniel Bryan, of which two lasted over forty-five minutes.
Strong, real name Chris Lindsey, won an athletic scholarship to the University of Florida to play football but dropped out two years into his business degree. It could be said that wrestling is in Strong’s blood – his father, an amateur wrestler, trained under the revered Jim Niedhart and wrestled on the indy circuit in Florida.
Strong is engaged to MMA fighter Marina Shafir – one of the “Four Horsewomen” of the sport.
