The Story of Wrestling – Roderick Strong

I am proud to announce that today is the start of a brand new weekly feature here at Cultured Vultures Wrestling. I, your humble editor, shall be breaking down character arcs every Friday and extrapolating the narrative journeys that notable wrestlers have taken. Part of this analysis is based strictly in the realm of kayfabe, but there are real life occurrences to consider as well. This week, I’m starting with Roderick Strong’s NXT run, from his debut to now. How he went from being in danger of irrelevance to being associated with the kingpin group of WWE’s developmental territory.

On October 19th, 2016, Roderick Strong made his debut appearance on NXT TV as Austin Aries’ partner in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. The pairing was sadly short-lived, as Aries would suffer an injury that would see Strong lose in a singles match to Shane Thorne to determine whose respective team would advance in the tournament. Despite this early setback, Strong entered NXT with a pre-established audience, receiving a strong crowd reaction upon entering Full Sail University.

The established babyface indie darling was quickly slotted into the main event picture. He would lose in a fatal four-way match to determine the no. 1 contender for the NXT Championship at TakeOver: San Antonio, but there was an intention there to push Strong as the latest hot commodity to sign with WWE. He would go on to defeat Andrade “Cien” Almas at the aforementioned event in San Antonio. A man who managed to go from seeming irrelevance to championship gold later that year. The same cannot be said for Roddy.

After a prolonged feud with Sanity (that would actually see Strong become the first person to pin Eric Young in NXT), “The Messiah of the Backbreaker” entered a phase of spinning his wheels. His reactions were consistent if quieter than you’d expect for an ROH legend. He would lose to Bobby Roode in a match for the NXT Championship, and would then lose again to Drew McIntyre, the man who took the belt off Roode. Strong then ate another loss from the vengeful Almas and was in a career limbo.

In the build up to the Roode match, WWE highlighted who Roderick Strong was and did a commendable job. A two-part mini documentary delved into his troubled childhood and how wrestling was an outlet for him to escape. This was sorely needed, as his character up until that point had been “guy who can wrestle,” but after that led to not winning the title, it felt pointless.

Then we would enter the beginning of what would become good fortunes for Roderick, that being his saga with the Undisputed Era. Many praise the long-term booking of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa (as well they should), but Roddy’s brush with Adam Cole and co. has been developing for well over seven months now. It began as quite a meta angle, with Cole pointing out that Strong has not prospered in NXT in the same way others of his ilk had. Cole would offer Strong membership to his crew, only for Strong to deny it and find himself teaming up with the Authors of Pain for a War Games match against the Era and Sanity.

The match was suitably chaotic, but it did nothing to help Strong. By the end of it, Sanity had put in a blistering performance, TUE got the rub of winning, and the AOP were established enough that they could afford not to win. What about Roddy? He was the odd one out in this equation. He had no team, no apparent ongoing narrative thread. He was just a reliable pair of hands to put in a match.

Strong would briefly appear in 205 Live and do pretty well for himself, reaching the semi-finals of the tournament to crown the new Cruiserweight Champion at WrestleMania 34. After losing to Cedric Alexander though, it was back to square one. This was until NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, where his luck would finally turn around.

Teaming with Pete Dunne in the final of the 2018 Dusty Classic, his story came full circle, as Roddy was on the cusp of winning the very tournament he debuted in. Despite not winning the final, something much better happened: he found his place and became a part of the most exciting group in WWE today. In a triple threat tag match against the Authors of Pain and the Undisputed Era variation of Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly, Strong shockingly turned on Dunne and gifted the win to the faction he’d been embroiled in a bitter feud with not long before.

Not only was it a heel turn that genuinely took many by surprise, it was organic and made perfect sense. The Undisputed Era held all the cards and were an unmitigated success story. Strong knew that if he helped them win that match, he would be welcomed into a group holding two titles and the Dusty trophy. Plus, from a real-life perspective, Bobby Fish had suffered a major injury and O’Reilly needed a tag partner. Roddy had nothing going on and it would serve him well to join a team made up of ROH veterans such as himself.

In one match, Roderick Strong had gone from a perceived flop in NXT to one half of the tag team champions and a guaranteed mainstay as long as he’s by Adam Cole’s side. It could prove problematic once Bobby Fish returns, seeing as reDRagon are the true tag team of the group, but he’s been performing at such a high standard that this could influence his entire career. Adam Cole is the clear-cut star of the show, and if Roderick Strong maintains that association, he’ll be alright.

And so concludes the first instalment of The Story of Wrestling. Watching Roderick Strong’s arc in NXT reach a point where he’s being booked consistently and as a dominant heel is a real relief. I’m glad it’s worked out in the long run and can’t wait to see what the future holds for his newfound friends. If you’d like to suggest a wrestler for a future article, tweet me @TBroomey and I’ll gladly take a look.