Diamond Mine Debuts With Roderick Strong On WWE NXT
Roderick Strong and Malcolm Bivens return to WWE NXT with the Diamond Mine.
A new faction made its presence felt on last night's episode of WWE NXT, as Roderick Strong and the long-absent Malcolm Bivens returned to television at the Diamond Mine's helm.
The group had been hyped up through a series of ambiguous, MMA-themed vignettes over the past few weeks, with WWE doing a good job of keeping its cards close to its chest. That the videos offered no more than a few teasing hints left viewers largely in the dark as to what the Diamond Mine would eventually be.
We found out last night. Joined by Tyler Rust and the debuting Hideki Suzuki, Strong beat Kushida down following the Cruiserweight Champion's win over Kyle O'Reilly, after Adam Cole had already brawled KOR away from ringside. Bivens then spoke, christening his new trio Diamond Mine.
Strong had been absent from WWE programming since 13 April, "quitting" the black and gold brand following The Undisputed Era's split. Rust, meanwhile, has been on television sporadically since December 2020, while the Billy Robinson-trained Suzuki was making his first appearance last night, having signed as a player-coach in April.
One of the most talented talkers in the game, Bivens had accompanied Rust in his early WWE appearances, though this looks like his most substantial WWE role so far.