AEW announces former WWE Superstar's in-ring debut for Dynamite next week
AEW has officially signed another former WWE star, who made a triumphant debut during last night's Dynamite. The promotion has wasted no time in booking Roderick Strong's next step, as the former NXT Cruiserweight Champion is set to compete during next week's Dynamite.
Strong was notably a member of the highly praised Undisputed Era faction alongside Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O'Reilly. WWE never announced his release, making his Dynamite debut all the more surprising.
During the closing moments of AEW Dynamite, color commentator Excalibur announced next week's matches and revealed that Strong will team up with Orange Cassidy, Adam Cole, and Bandido to take on The Jericho Appreciation Society.
Roderick Strong's wife, Marina Shafir, has notably been competing in All Elite Wrestling for quite some time. The star recently took to social media to react to her husband's Dynamite debut.
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WWE was reportedly keeping the newly signed AEW star's release a secret
WWE has released numerous stars in the past three years, and unsurprisingly, many of them ended up in All Elite Wrestling. But unlike in Roderick Strong's case, the promotion has notably always announced their releases. Due to this, many fans were shocked at his appearance on Dynamite, and some even praised the fact that his debut was kept a secret.
Roderick Strong has arrived in #AEW! https://t.co/dUqsJLNmVa #AEWDynamite
According to a report in Fightful Select, Strong and WWE agreed on his departure a long time ago, and the promotion simply wanted to keep it a secret. Allegedly, WWE wanted him to coach some of the other stars before his contract officially expired. However, there's no indication that this happened nor that it ended up being pitched to the star.
It's currently unclear why the Stamford-based promotion kept Roderick Strong's departure a secret. They could have potentially done it to avoid some sort of drama. WWE also likely knew that he'd debut in All Elite Wrestling as soon as his contract expired, so it could additionally have been a way to keep the competition in the dark.