Roderick Strong is officially All Elite! In a surprise AEW debut that wasn't leaked ahead of time and a signing no one seemed to be talking about, Strong came out to help an outnumbered Adam Cole.Cole was attacked by The Jericho Appreciation Society and even when Orange Cassidy and Bandido trying to help wasn't enough, unfamiliar music blared over the arena speakers and Strong ran down to the ring. He cleared the ring, stood in the opposite corner from Cole and the two embraced, the crowd going wild because members of Undisputed Era from NXT were in the ring together.It didn't take long for Tony Khan and AEW to share on social media that Strong had officially signed a contract.
With the exception of Bobby Fish, all of the members of Undisputed Era are now under contract with AEW. Kyle O'Reilly is out with an injury, but many fans are excited about the prospect of him returning and AEW reforming the group. Some even wondered if AEW would think about bringing Fish back to make a run with all four members.
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What's so interesting about this news is that few people might have known Strong was even available to be signed by All Elite Wrestling. While he hadn't been on NXT programming in some time, word of his contract status wasn't common knowledge or circulating around the Internet. He was the former leader of Diamond Mine but the group had fractured with some reports back in March that he was still under contract.
AEW Jumped On This Quickly
If the situation in WWE was that Strong's contract had just expired and he was recently freed up to sign in AEW, Tony Khan clearly jumped quickly at the opportunity to bring him in. It was one of the few surprises that didn't leak ahead of time.
