Why Roderick Strong Chose AEW Over WWE

Roderick Strong has revealed that friends and family were ultimately the deciding factors when choosing between WWE and AEW after becoming a free agent in late 2022.

On the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Strong revealed that he was edging closer towards returning from injury when his WWE contract expired last year. A desire to work with his friends and wife, Marina Shafir, led to him going with AEW, though he had offers on the table from both promotions.

Said Strong (h/t Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online):-

"In August of last year, I got injured and I was out for some time. When it was getting closer to the end of the year, my contract actually expired from WWE... It just felt like it was inevitable and I was just kind of walking through parts of the process just to do it when I really wanted to be with my buddies and with my wife."

Strong had been signed to WWE since October 2016 up until his 2022 release. His final onscreen appearance came last October, before the former Ring of Honor stalwart left the company the following month.

AEW debuted the 40-year-old alongside Adam Cole this April. Currently, Strong is opposite Cole in the AEW World Championship contender's storyline with MJF, also incorporating The Kingdom.

On AEW, Strong said the company reminds him of ROH:-

"AEW, it reminds me so much of what I loved about Ring of Honor. The collective, everybody wants it to be better. You hear whatever but since I've been there, I really get that feeling of 'How can we make this better?' And it's coming from everybody, for the most part, and it's very motivating."

In kayfabe, a neck brace-sporting Strong is currently "injured" in AEW, having last wrestled on the 1 July episode of Collision.