Roderick Strong Makes Surprise Debut on Dynamite, Signs Contract with AEW

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite show in Sunrise, Florida featured former NXT talent Roderick Strong making his surprise debut in the company.

During a promo segment on the show, Adam Cole called out Chris Jericho saying that what Jericho and those with him did last week to his girlfriend Britt Baker was unforgivable. Before Cole was able to leave to find out where Jericho was in the building, Jericho appeared on the big screen saying he did not want to be anywhere close to Cole and called him a coward for standing by and doing nothing to stop the beating Baker received.

Jericho then said he would be sending out his guys to beat up Cole, resulting in Daniel Garcia, Matt Menard, Angelo Parker, and Jake Hager rushing to the ring and attacking Cole. Orange Cassidy and Bandido ran out trying to save Cole but they quickly also ended up getting beaten up due to the numbers disadvantage. This led to Roderick Strong making a surprise appearance rushing out to attack the JAS and save Cole and others. After running off the JAS, Cole and Strong embraced with a hug reuniting from their days together as part of the Undisputed Era in WWE.

Following Strong’s appearance, AEW CEO Tony Khan announced on Twitter that Strong recently signed an official contract with the company.

It's official: @roderickstrong is
All Elite!

Thank you everyone watching Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite live on @TBSNetwork right NOW! pic.twitter.com/bP5JRYl5si

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) April 27, 2023

Prior to his signing with AEW, Strong had worked for WWE from 2016 until 2023, primarily for their NXT brand, but had been out of action since this past September due to an ankle injury.