Christopher Lindsey (born July 26, 1983), better known by his ring name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler. , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Conglomeration and The Paragon stables.
He is also known for his tenure with WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand. Prior to signing with WWE and later AEW, Strong had a 13-year tenure with Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former one-time ROH World Champion, a two-time ROH World Television Champion, and a one-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with Austin Aries, which made him the second-ever ROH Triple Crown Champion (after Eddie Edwards).
In 2000, he debuted on the Floridian independent circuit. He worked for IPW Hardcore and NWA Florida, before debuting for ROH in September 2003. In mid-2004, Strong joined forces with Alex Shelley, Austin Aries, and Jack Evans, collectively known as Generation Next. As part of Generation Next, Strong won the ROH World Tag Team Championship with Austin Aries. Strong later turned on Aries, forming a new faction, the No Remorse Corps, with Davey Richards and Rocky Romero. During this time, he was also competing for ROH's sister promotion, Full Impact Pro (FIP), and debuted for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). Strong toured Japan with Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling Noah and had a brief stint in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2005.
In FIP, he won the World Heavyweight Championship three times, and the Tag Team Championship twice, once with Erick Stevens and once with Rich Swann. In PWG, he is a one-time World Champion and a three-time World Tag Team Champion, having held the title with Davey Richards, Pac, and Jack Evans, respectively. In addition, he is the only wrestler to win PWG's annual Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament with two different partners (Pac in 2007 and Jack Evans in 2008).
After signing with WWE in 2016, Strong debuted in NXT as a fan-favorite before turning into a villain and joining The Undisputed Era, where he became a two-time NXT Tag Team Champion (both with Kyle O'Reilly) and a one-time NXT North American Champion. As the leader of Diamond Mine, he became NXT Cruiserweight Champion once. In AEW, he is a former one-time AEW World Trios Champion with Conglomeration stablemates Orange Cassidy and Kyle O'Reilly.
Early life Lindsey was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, but relocated to Florida at a young age. Following a troubled childhood, Lindsey graduated from Riverview High School, where he played American football. He attended the University of South Florida on an academic scholarship. Lindsey majored in business for two years before dropping out.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2000–2005) In the autumn of 1994, Lindsey's father, a collegiate wrestler, began training as a wrestler under Jim Neidhart. After Lindsey attended several training sessions and met Harry Smith, a third generation wrestler, he decided to become a wrestler. Lindsey was also trained by his father, Neidhart and a number of other wrestlers in Tampa, Florida, and debuted in 2000 as The Jester on the Floridian independent circuit for the RWA.
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 Championship on June 28, 2002, in St. Petersburg, Florida. They held the title 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 into a villain on February 8, 2003, betraying Sedrick and aligning himself with the Alliance of Defiance, a dominant villainous stable.
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 New Alhambra Sports and Entertainment Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lost the title to Sedrick Strong on April 29, 2004, in New Port Richey, Florida.
In addition to wrestling for NWA Florida, Strong served as the head trainer of the territory's wrestling school.
On January 13, 2005, Strong made a one-off appearance in World Wrestling Entertainment's SmackDown episode, representing Tampa. On the episode, Strong was defeated by Kurt Angle in Angle's "3-Minute Hometown Hero Challenge".
Ring of Honor (2003–2016) Generation Next and No Remorse Corps (2003–2008)
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 Alex Shelley, Austin Aries and Jack Evans. Generation Next quickly dominated the ROH roster, declaring themselves the future of wrestling. After defeating several others, they defeated CM Punk, Ace Steel, R. J. Brewer and Jimmy Jacobs (mentored by Ricky Steamboat) on October 2 at The Midnight Express Reunion.
Strong began punctuating his ring style with stiff offense while 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 September 24 at 2005 Survival of the Fittest, Strong defeated Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, Generation Next teammate Austin Aries, and Colt Cabana to win the titular event, thus earning himself another shot at the ROH World Championship in the future.
On October 1 at Joe vs. Kobashi, valet 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 the latter's farewell 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 World Champion Bryan Danielson on October 29 in Woodbridge, Connecticut, and on November 5 in Chicago, with the match going over 45 minutes. On March 31 in Chicago, Strong faced Bryan Danielson a third time for the ROH World Championship, with a 60-minute time limit, but Roderick came up short with Danielson rolling up Strong at the 56 minute mark for the victory.
At Final Battle 2005 on December 17, 2005, Strong and Aries defeated Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until September 16, 2006, when they were defeated by The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli). In February 2007, Strong turned on Aries to form a new faction with Davey Richards called the No Remorse Corps.
The No Remorse Corps went on to feud with Aries' new faction The Resilience. Rocky Romero joined the NRC, while Matt Cross and Erick Stevens joined The Resilience. Though the NRC dominated the feud for the most part, the feud's end came with Strong losing matches to Aries at both Undeniable and Reckless Abandon in a 30-minute Iron Man match.
Strong then began to feud with Stevens over the FIP title. Strong lost the title to Stevens at Final Battle 2007, but won it back at FIP Redefined. He continued to hold onto the belt in several matches with Stevens, and won a Fight Without Honor against Stevens at ROH Respect is Earned II by superplexing Stevens off a ladder through two tables. However, he lost the FIP title to Stevens at FIP Hot Summer Nights 2008 in a Dog Collar match to end their feud. At Respect is Earned II, Davey Richards turned on Strong to join Sweet and Sour Inc.
Championship reigns (2008–2013)
On an episode of ROH on HDNet, Strong was chosen as a judge for the Tyler Black/Austin Aries match for the ROH World Title on February 13. Strong accepted the position as Black promised that, should he win the title, Strong will be given a championship match.
On May 22, 2010, Strong turned into a villain and debuted Truth Martini as his new manager. At the following pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor VIII, on June 19, Strong defeated Colt Cabana, Steve Corino, Shawn Daivari, Tyson Dux and Eddie Edwards in a gauntlet match, with an assist from Martini, to earn the right to challenge for the ROH World Championship. On September 11, 2010, at Glory By Honor IX, Strong defeated Tyler Black in a No Disqualification match to win the ROH World Championship for the first time. He then took a brief leave of absence from ROH to travel to Pro Wrestling Noah with ROH World Television Champion Eddie Edwards to participate in the Nippon Television Junior Heavyweight Tag League. On March 2, 2011, ROH announced that Strong had signed a new contract with the promotion. Just over two weeks later, on March 19, Strong lost the ROH World Championship to Eddie Edwards at Manhattan Mayhem IV.
On April 1 at Honor Takes Center Stage, Strong faced Richards once again in a rematch from their encounter at Final Battle. This time, Richards defeated Strong after making him submit to an Ankle Lock. The following night, on the second night of the iPPV, Strong lost again, this time to El Generico. After the match, Strong's teammate from the House of Truth, Michael Elgin, attacked Generico until Colt Cabana made the save. Christopher Daniels also came out, presumably to assist fellow babyfaces Cabana and Generico, but turned heel after hitting Generico with the Book of Truth and hitting Cabana with the Angel's Wings, thus joining the House of Truth. On August 13 at the first ever TV tapings of Ring Of Honor Wrestling under Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Strong received another shot at the ROH world title against Davey Richards but was unsuccessful. On March 31, 2012, at Showdown in the Sun, Strong defeated Jay Lethal to win the ROH World Television Championship for the first time, in the process becoming the second person to win the ROH Triple Crown. On June 29, Strong lost the title to Adam Cole. After defeating former stablemate Michael Elgin on December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Strong quit the House of Truth. On March 2, 2013, at the 11th Anniversary Show, Strong would end his feud with Elgin, being defeated in a Two out of three falls match.
Various feuds and departure (2013–2016)