WWE News: Former ROH World Champion Roderick Strong Headed To The WWE Soon

Ring of Honor Wrestling has produced some of the biggest names in pro-wrestling history. CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, and Seth Rollins all came out of the promotion. While all worked in other places as well, it was at ROH where people truly noticed them. ROH became the place for young talent to go if they wanted to get noticed and eventually end up in a major company.

All ended up with WWE eventually, although some did take detours on the way. Now another man from ROH could be making his way over to the world of WWE and possibly join the WWE NXT brand. According to the Wrestling Observer, Roderick Strong will be headed to WWE soon. The following is according to Dave Meltzer of WON.

“It’s pretty clear that Rodrick Strong is going to the WWE.”

Strong finished his commitments at PWG last night at PWG 13. Roderick Strong has a ton of experience as he has not just wrestled with ROH and PWG but also Pro Wrestling Noah, TNA, and Full Impact Pro, among other places. This is a huge get for the WWE, as Strong is considered one of the top wrestlers in the world today and is highly sought after by other companies. After spending thirteen years with ROH, he became known as Mr. ROH.

Most felt he would never leave. However, it is believed Strong left because he felt he was not being utilized well and that he could get better opportunities away from Ring of Honor. After spending most of his career with ROH, it makes sense to think that ROH would consider doing more with Roderick Strong so that he didn’t decide to leave the company. Some call him the heart and soul of the company due to his long tenure with the organization.

When Strong was with ROH, he saw many of the names mentioned above come and go. They used ROH as a launching pad into greatness while he stuck around. It is unknown whether or not he felt he would not get a shot with WWE or TNA, or felt that ROH was the best place to be for him. He stuck around, regardless, and did everything one could do with the company before the NJPW partnership.

It is thought that the booking of NJPW stars with ROH stars truly led to Strong’s decision. Many of the top ROH stars were used well enough, but people like Roderick Strong and Moose were not given much thought over the NJPW stars. ROH booker Delirious has basically been favoring NJPW since the partnership was made. NJPW managed to get a lot out of the partnership, as they had the chance to jump into the United States and make a big impression. In fact, their biggest year yet was in 2015, as they made big money at events even when they did not use the ROH stars.

Meanwhile, ROH didn’t see as much success in the deal. Interestingly, people like Adam Cole, Jay Lethal, and Adam Page were added to the promotion’s shows in Japan and other places just to help build them for ROH. Weirdly enough, it feels like people such as Adam Cole come off as a member of New Japan now that he’s part of the Bullet Club. Meanwhile, he’s under contract to ROH. NJPW seems to be using ROH stars to make more money for themselves while ROH doesn’t see as much out of it.

People like Roderick Strong were seemingly forgotten about, despite his long tenure with the business. That said, it makes sense that he would want to leave. It was rumored that Strong would be part of WWE’s September class. With that being known, WWE may not “officially” sign him until then.

[image via WWE]