Roderick Strong made a surprise debut on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite when there was a segment with Adam Cole and Chris Jericho.
Cole called out Jericho, who declined the offer and sent out the Jericho Appreciation Society instead to attack Cole. This led to Orange Cassidy and Bandido trying to come out to make the save, but they were outnumbered.
Strong ran out to make the save. Cole and Strong hugged afterward. This comes after Strong disappeared from WWE television after being used in NXT for years. There had been rumblings since last year that he wanted this released, but WWE wouldn’t grant it. Strong is now All Elite.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Strong’s AEW debut shocked a lot of people in WWE.
“That was a shock to a lot of people in WWE. I know there were people who knew his contract was up, but most people didn’t know that [he was joining AEW that night],” Meltzer stated.
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