Roderick Strong recently spoke with Between the Ropes, here are the highlights…
On whether or not now is a good time for Ring of Honor to be on
pay-per-view: “I think it’s a great time. I’ve been telling everybody
since I found out about it. And this year has been unbelievable in the sense of
momentum, TV-wise, live event-wise, match quality-wise. Like the transition of
being on TV … it was a bumpy one for Ring of Honor honestly and for the guys.
I still think in-ring product of what we bring to TV is still work in progress
because working for TV is a lot different than a live event. But I think
everyone has grown leaps and bounds in that sense and we’re showing and
translating to the people that have never seen Ring of Honor I think a little
bit better about what we are.”
On the sense that Ring of Honor is getting the “cool factor”
back: I do. And it sucks that we kind of lost our edge a little bit.
We were going through a transitional period of everyone trying to find
themselves with this new system and people’s expectations for what was going to
happen when Sinclair bought the company. Everyone was like “oh no, you’re taking
away Ring of Honor” but in reality, they were just learning how to handle such a
machine in the sense of people are so passionate about it and want it to be
successful from the wrestlers to the fans. I think during that because, in their
brain, we were going mainstream, it wasn’t cool and I think over time people
realized hey, we’re just trying to figure this out and we’re trying to bring you
the Ring of Honor you love but just on a bigger stage. And it’s a really good
feeling and I think that’s why timing-wise with the pay-per-view it’s prefect
because the guys are full speed ahead, the company is full speed ahead and it’s
just awesome.
On not currently having a contract: I was basically under
contract from 2005 to when my contract had ran up and it was just something
where I want to take a little break from that obligation. Not that anyone was
necessarily restricting me but I wanted to be in a position where is somebody
called and there was an opportunity I could jump on it if it was the right one
for me. They’ve been very understanding about it at Ring of Honor and they
understand how much I respect and love the company and I would never do anything
to disrespect them in any way, shape or form. It’s been awesome that they’ve
been willing to work with me and give me that opportunity for a little bit.
