Roderick Strong: ‘Neck Strong’ Run Created An Opportunity For Me To Grow As A Performer

Roderick Strong had fun with his “Neck Strong” run.

Roderick Strong had fun with his “Neck Strong” run.

For several months in 2023, Roderick Strong was somewhat confined to a wheelchair on AEW programming, and he wore a neckbrace. Alongside Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, he tried to raise awareness for neck health. This run let fans see a different side of Strong before he, Taven, Bennett, and Wardlow joined forces with Adam Cole to form the Undisputed Kingdom.

In an interview with Alicia Atout, Roderick Strong was asked about this run. He described how he had fun, and this chapter gave him an opportunity to grow as a performer.

“It made it fun. It made it extremely fun. I’ve always wrestled and performed and wanted myself to be out there. But within this, it gave me an opportunity to use part of me but also become something else. That was something that I was really having a hard time figuring out. This whole situation created an opportunity for me to grow as a performer. I’m very old-school. I was 12 when I started, so in that day and age, they took everything so seriously. So for me, I’m like, for this to work, I have to do what a lot of people don’t do nowadays and just commit to it, like all the time. Every single thing I did because I just knew. Even when I would go to take my son to jiu-jitsu, depending on what day of the week it was, I would wear it, just because you never know,” Strong said.

Roderick Strong has returned to the ring and picked up several victories in recent weeks. He is set to challenge Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship at AEW Revolution. Check out the card here.

In a recent interview, Roderick Strong said AEW is a passion project. Check out his comments here.

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