Roderick Strong
| Chris Lindsey | |
|---|---|
| File:Roderick-strong.jpg | |
| Born | July 26, 1983 Wisconsin |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Roderick Strong |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Billed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Billed from | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Trained by | Jim Neidhart The Warlord Prince Iaukea His father |
| Debut | 2001 |
Chris Lindsey (born July 26, 1983 in Wisconsin) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Roderick Strong.
Career
Lindsey relocated to Tampa, Florida at an early age. He earned a football scholarship to the University of South Florida, where he majored in Business for two years before postponing his academic career.
In the autumn of 1994, Lindsey's father, a former collegiate wrestler, began training as a wrestler under Jim Neidhart. After Lindsey attended several training sessions and met Harry Smith, a second generation wrestler, he decided to become a wrestler. Lindsey was trained by Neidhart and a number of other wrestlers in Tampa, Florida and debuted in 2001 as Roderick Strong on the Floridian independent circuit.
IPW Hardcore
Strong wrestled his first match for the Independent Professional Wrestling promotion, competing in a twenty man cruiserweight battle royal. He was initially one-third of a stable known as "Risk Factor" with The Kamikaze Kid and Kid Lethal before he formed a tag team with his trainee and (kayfabe) brother, Sedrick Strong. The Strong Brothers defeated Wrongful Death (Naphtali and Dagon Briggs) for the IPW Tag Team Championships on June 28, 2002 in St. Petersburg, Florida. They held the titles until September 20, when they lost to Naturally Marvelous (Scoot Andrews and Mike Sullivan) in a steel cage match in which Roderick suffered a concussion.
After Sedrick cost the Strong Brothers a number of matches, Roderick turned heel on February 8, 2003, betraying Sedrick and aligning himself with the Alliance of Defiance, a dominant heel stable.
NWA Florida
After IPW closed down in late 2003, Strong began working for NWA Florida, a promotion which had had a working relationship with IPW for two years. Strong defeated David Babylon for the Florida Unified Cruiserweight Championship on July 19, 2003 in St. Petersburg. While Strong was champion, the title was renamed the Florida Unified Junior Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Jerrelle Clark in a four way match on December 13, 2003 in St. Petersburg. Clark vacated the title on January 10, 2004 after winning the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, and Strong defeated Mikey Batts for the vacant title on February 21 in the Viking Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lost the title to Sedrick Strong on April 29, 2004, in New Port Richey, Florida.
Ring of Honor
Strong joined the Pennsylvania-based Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion in September 2003. On May 22, 2004, at Generation Next he formed a stable known as Generation Next with Austin Aries, Alex Shelley and Jack Evans. Generation Next quickly dominated the ROH roster, declaring themselves the future of wrestling. After defeating several other stables, they defeated CM Punk, Ace Steel, John Walters and Jimmy Jacobs (mentored by Ricky Steamboat) on October 2 at The Midnight Express Reunion.
Strong began punctuating his ring style with stiff offense, acting as the enforcer of Generation Next. In November 2004 he formed a regular tag team with Evans, and on December 26 he, Evans and Aries threw Shelley out of the group when he refused to resign as leader. Strong and Evans continued to team throughout early-2005, but were unable to win the ROH Tag Team Championship. On July 9, 2005 at Escape from New York, Strong faced CM Punk for the ROH Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated. On September 24 at Survival of the Fittest, Strong defeated Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal and Colt Cabana to win the titular event, thus earning himself another shot at the ROH Heavyweight Championship in the future.
On October 1 at Joe vs. Kobashi, Jade Chung aligned herself with Strong (and the remainder of Generation Next) after he defeated her former client, Jimmy Rave. The following night, Strong defeated James Gibson in his last match for Ring of Honor before returning to World Wrestling Entertainment. Following the match, Gibson gave a farewell speech in which he called Strong the "MVP" of Ring of Honor.
Strong lost to ROH Heavyweight Champion Bryan Danielson on October 29 in Woodbridge, Connecticut and on November 5th in Chicago, with the match going over 45 minutes. On December 17 in Edison, New Jersey at Final Battle 2005, Strong teamed with Aries to defeat Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke for the ROH Tag Team Championship.
On March 31 in Chicago, Strong faced Bryan Danielson a third time for the ROH World Heavyweight title, with a 60 minute time limit, but Roderick came up short with Danielson rolling up Strong at the 56 minute mark for the victory.
On June 23 in Detroit, Strong will compete against one of the top junior heavyweights from Japan, Pro Wrestling NOAH star and GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion KENTA.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
In his first major appearance with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Strong lost a special "Showcase Match" to Austin Aries at the TNA Unbreakable pay-per-view on September 11, 2005. On September 22 it was announced that he had signed a contract with TNA, and would wrestle A.J. Styles on the first episode of TNA iMPACT! on Spike TV on October 1. Strong went on to lose the subsequent bout.
In December 2005, Strong toured Japan with the Dragon Gate promotion. In 2006, he formed a stable in TNA with Austin Aries and Alex Shelley. In February 2006, he and Aries were both suspended for two months for arriving four hours late for the pay-per-view TNA Against All Odds 2006. He returned to TNA in April 2006.
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
- Stronghold (Knee-to-back elevated Boston crab or straight jacket clutch)
- Half nelson backbreaker
- Gibson Driver (Tiger driver)
- CX 03' (Straight jacket Gory neckbreaker)
- CX 02' (Crucifix hold rotated into a cutter)
- Fireman's carry into double knee gutbuster
- Second rope fireman's carry into double knee gutbuster
- Various other backbreakers
- Piledriver
- Yakuza kick
Managers
Nicknames
- "The Messiah of the Backbreaker" (Strong claims to have discovered over 20 different variations of the move)
Championships and accomplishments
- Independent Professional Wrestling (Florida)
- 1-time Florida Unified Cruiserweight Champion
- 1-time IPW Tag Team Champion (with Sedrick Strong)
- 2-time NWA Florida X Division Champion
- 1-time ROH Tag Team Champion (with Austin Aries)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- 2005 Most Improved Wrestler
Championship Succession
References
- Interview with Alan Wojcik #1
- Interview with Alan Wojcik #2
- Interview with Bill Banks
- Interview with DOI.net
- Roderick Strong at OWW.com
- Solie's title histories