Tag: Roderick Strong

Details On Roderick Strong’s WWE Departure, Surprise AEW Debut

AEW shocked the wrestling world on Wednesday night with Roderick Strong’s surprise debut on “Dynamite” in Sunrise, Florida. He had requested his WWE release last May, hadn’t been seen on WWE programming since August, and as of mid-March, was reportedly still under contract. So for him to show up on “Dynamite” to run in and save Adam Cole from the Jericho Appreciation Society was something almost no one saw coming. Very quickly, Fightful Select reported some details to try to help give context to what was a very left-field debut.

The most recent information that Fightful had was that the AEW talents they spoke to were “pleasantly surprised” that Strong had signed. On the WWE side, the newest information was that 2K Games had been told not to include Strong in the “WWE 2K23” video game, that other WWE talent had never been updated on his status, and he had not been at the WWE Performance Center “in quite some time” even though he was fully cleared to wrestle. The report also noted that Strong’s WWE run started its downward slide when Paul “Triple H” Levesque lost power in “NXT,” as he was behind Strong’s push as the center of a revitalized cruiserweight division.

Strong has been wrestling since 2000, breaking into the business when he was 16 years old after years of training under Jim Neidhart. After initially getting on the map for his work in the IPW promotion in Florida, he made a name for himself in Ring of Honor, where he was a mainstay for over a decade before signing with WWE in 2016.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Roderick Strong Reportedly Requests WWE Release

Roderick Strong has reportedly requested his WWE NXT release, but the company has him factored into upcoming creative plans.

Strong has requested his release “multiple times” in the past several months, according to Fightful Select. However, word is that WWE has denied the request.

The veteran pro wrestler is said to be frustrated with many things within WWE over the past year, which led to him asking for his release.

WWE reportedly pitched a name change to Strong, but he was opposed to the idea. There were many people within WWE who were surprised that Strong was not included in the NXT releases made last Friday as he’s made it clear he wants out of the company.

Strong went to England in March for a quick run in NXT UK, defeating Wolfgang on the March 17 taped episode, then coming up short against NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov on the taped episode that aired on April 7. Strong lost to LA Knight and Tommaso Ciampa in SmackDown dark matches this past January, and took a WWE Main Event loss to T-BAR that same month, but there’s no word on if he’s being considered for a main roster run. His last NXT 2.0 TV singles match was the loss to Solo Sikoa on March 22, and then he competed in the Second Chance Triple Threat the following week for a spot in the NXT North American Title Ladder Match at Stand & Deliver, which also included A-Kid and the winner, current NXT North American Champion Cameron Grimes.

Strong reportedly re-signed with WWE shortly before The Diamond Mine stable debuted last year. Original plans called for Strong to be in the group with wife Marina Shafir, manager Malcolm Bivens, trainer Hideki Suzuki, Tyler Rust, and Arturo Ruas, but less than one year later Strong is the only member of the originally pitched stable to remain with the company.

WWE recently began a storyline where Strong said he wanted to make changes to The Diamond Mine so they don’t fail like The Undisputed Era did. WWE released Bivens last week, along with 9 other budget cuts, and now the group consists of Strong, The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile.

Strong has reportedly remained professional in his handling of creative week-to-week. It was also noted that WWE officials currently have no plans to release Strong as he is factored into upcoming creative plans.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Roderick Strong Returns To NXT As Leader Of The Diamond Mine

Roderick Strong returned to NXT for the first time in three months and revealed himself as the leader of the much-hyped Diamond Mine.

It all went down in the Capitol Wrestling Center on the most recent edition of NXT on USA Network. Strong’s former Undisputed Era colleague Kyle O’Reilly had just defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida in a non-title main event when Adam Cole appeared. Cole and O’Reilly began to scuffle, his was the cue to NXT’s new enforcer Samoa Joe to intervene with his team of peacekeepers.

While Joe and his peacekeepers were distracted with Cole and O’Reilly, three mystery assailants entered the ring and began attacking Kushida. IT soon became clear that the chief assailant was the returning Roderick Strong who was flanked by NXT newcomer Tyler Rust, and Japanese veteran Hideki Suzuki.

Manager Malcolm Bivens then joined the three men and introduced them as the Diamond Mine.

https://twitter.com/WWEonFOX/status/1407527351966175232

As you might recall, Roderick Strong was last seen in NXT back in April when he appeared to resign from the brand after struggling to adapt to life as a solo performer in the wake of The Undisputed Era’s breakup.

Strong handed NXT General Manager William Regal his letter of resignation but was informed that he’d be welcome back anytime. It seems that Strong’s solution to no longer being a member of a stable was to start his own.

Source: The Sportster

Roderick Strong Leaves NXT. Is He Heading To RAW Or SmackDown?

There’s now speculation on Roderick Strong possibly going to RAW or SmackDown.

Last night’s WWE NXT show featured a segment earlier in the show where Strong and wife Marina Shafir were shown entering the WWE Performance Center. Strong later met NXT General Manager William Regal in his office and handed over an envelope of papers, presumably his notice, and then said he was “done” in NXT.

Regal admitted that Strong gave him trouble at times with The Undisputed Era, but said he is a consummate professional, and is welcome back to NXT at anytime.

WWE later noted that Strong has officially resigned from the NXT brand.

Before tonight, Strong was last seen in the storylines during the “Takeover: Stand and Deliver” build for the Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly feud. He lost to Cameron Grimes on last week’s Takeover go-home show and was scheduled to compete in the Battle Royal to determine the Takeover Gauntlet Eliminator participants, but there was a backstage segment where Strong was shown leaving the venue.

WWE often calls wrestlers to the main roster around this time of the year, but there’s no word yet on if Strong is headed to the blue or red brand. The veteran pro wrestler has been with WWE since October 2016. Shafir signed with WWE in May 2018 but hasn’t had much of an in-ring career.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

NXT Stars Roderick Strong And Marina Shafir Got Married

roderick strong marina shafir married pictures video

WWE NXT Stars Roderick Strong and Marina Shafir got married this week with other wrestlers from the PC in attendance.

Some of the highlights include Roderick on the dance floor in a sleeveless button up shirt while an Elvis impersonator performs and Otiz Dozovic dancing alone with his shirt barely buttoned.

Congrats to the newlyweds!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp8Taz1nNl9/

Roderick Strong Reveals His Fiancé Marina Shafir Gave Birth To Their Baby

marina shafir roderick strong baby born

NXT Superstar Roderick Strong is officially a dad now, proudly announcing Monday night that his fiancé Marina Shafir gave birth to a baby boy.

Strong posted a picture of his new family with the caption, “Tonight April 24th at 8:36pm we welcomed a beautiful 20inches 7lb 11oz baby boy Troy Veniamin Lindsey into this world!”

He also included the hashtags “our little viking boy” and “life will never be the same.”

Marina posted an update last week saying the baby was due on 4/20, but it sounds like he was just trying to hang in the nest for a few more days.

Congrats to the happy couple!

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Roderick Strong & His Fiancée Marina Shafir Are Expecting! (VIDEO)

roderick strong baby marina shafir pregnant dad wwe wrestler roh wrestling nxt

Former ROH World Champion Roderick Strong said he wanted to “pursue other opportunities” when he left the company in June … and now he’s getting the opportunity to be a dad!

Strong’s fiancée — MMA fighter Marina Shafir — shared the news Monday night on Instagram … saying, “This is REAL life. I simply cannot explain the emotions that have been flooding me and @roderickstrong in the last few weeks … I did not prepare to be a mom (even though, everyone close around me always told me I had the instinct), but I’m on this bandwagon to the end now!”

Shafir also invited fans to follow her pregnancy, noting that she’ll be restarting her YouTube channel and vlogging about the experience weekly.

No word on the baby’s gender … but with those genes, we’re assuming it’ll be a badass bundle of joy.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Check out the video of Shafir getting an ultrasound below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLH6rb4hU4M/?taken-by=marinashafir

Roderick Strong Heading To WWE

Source: WrestlingINC

Dave Meltzer reports in the latest and free edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, “it’s pretty clear that former ROH Champion Roderick Strong is going to the WWE.” Meltzer says this is bound to happen as Strong said his farewells to PWG during PWG 13, as you can see in the video above. Roderick most notably wrestled for Ring of Honor from 2003 to 2016, as well as other promotions such as PWG, TNA, Full Impact Pro, and Pro Wrestling Noah.

Roderick Strong Leaving ROH

We have learned via Prowrestlingsheet.com that Roderick Strong after 13 years  will be departing from Ring of Honor wrestling.

His last match for the company will take place this Saturday in Concord North Carolina.  

According to ROHwrestling.com strong is leaving to “persue other opportunities.Recent rumors had speculated that Roderick may be heading to WWE when his current contract expired but no reliable source has been able to confirm or deny those reports at this time.

We here at WNB will continue to bring you more information on this topic as it develops.

Roderick Strong Planning To Raise Money For PTSD Support In Honor Of Deceased Friend

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

ROH wrestler Roderick Strong tells Pro Wrestling Sheet he plans to honor the memory of his recently deceased friend, who sadly took his own life Sunday, by raising money for PTSD support.

Strong’s longtime friend/former roommate Dustin Yates — a big wrestling fan who was also named after Dusty Rhodes — struggled with PTSD following his time in the service, and Roddy says he’s hoping to help others battling with the disorder before it’s too late.

The triple crown champion says he’ll either be launching his own foundation soon or participating in a yearly charity in conjunction with an already established PTSD organization.

For now, any donations can be made to the GoFundMe page setup by Yates’ friends.

Roddy adds, “He was a great soldier but an even better friend. His love for his family matched the love for his country. He served with such pride. He will be greatly missed.”