Roderick Strong recently asked for his release from WWE. It was reported that the NXT star has asked to be let go several times over the past few months. Strong’s Diamond Mine manager, Malcolm Bivens, was recently cut by the company, leaving the direction of the stable in question.
Roderick also has several friends in AEW, including his former Undisputed Era partners Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly. His wife, Marina Shafir, is also with Tony Khan’s company. Many see it as a better fit for Roderick. Dave Meltzer discussed his situation on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, noting that Roddy still has years left on his WWE deal and might have to make the best of things there.
“I guess you can quit, but then they can freeze your deal, so that doesn’t really do you any good. He’s got a couple years left on his deal because he just signed last year before everything changed. His wife’s in AEW. His friends are in AEW. If you look at things from his perspective, things would look much brighter for him in AEW than NXT.
If he was going to go to the main roster, he’d be on the main roster by now. In NXT, he’s still on television, and Malcolm Bivens being cut, there’s that role for him now as long as they want that Diamond Mine group. Bivens was the talker. Now, Roderick would probably be the talker of the group. The coach, whatever. So, there’s a spot for him, but in the long run, you know with his size and the age and all the other things and what they want that show to be. Long run, he doesn’t really fit. They do give some people releases when they want and they don’t give others and it probably depends on a variety of different things, one of which is that right now, they probably have something for him, but, yeah.
He doesn’t really fit in what WWE’s doing anymore, especially on the NXT brand. There’s not really much he can do. Maybe they’ll do something with him. They put Mustafa Ali on television after they had iced him for a long time. Roderick isn’t being iced or anything, but I just don’t see what they’re going to do with him. He’s not going to be in any title pictures, I don’t think. He’s not going to be a focused-on guy or anything like that. He does have a spot right now, so I could see how he would want out. It’s just one of those things. It’s the nature of the contracts. The contracts aren’t fair in the sense that they can cut you whenever they want, essentially, and you can’t leave whenever you want. All wrestling contracts are like that, it’s not just WWE.”
We will have to wait and see if WWE has any plans for Roderick Strong. He would be the natural fit to take over as the leader of the Diamond Mind if WWE wants to continue down that road. With years left on his contract, Roddy might have to see what he can make of himself in NXT 2.0.
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Transcription by Ringside News