Wrestling INC: Did that lead to your tenure with them ending early?
Strong: Not at all. We had a mutual respect. TNA never did anything wrong and I understand the suspension on both ends. I had the opportunity to stay there and just didn't feel it was best for my career. I felt I needed more growth and I wasn't sure if TNA was the place to do it. It was a judgment call at the time. I have a lot of respect for TNA and I hope they never thought I meant to disrespect them.
Wrestling INC: It feels ROH had been low-key the last few years, but they seem to be getting their buzz back. Do you sense this year as almost a turning point?
Strong: Yeah, of course. We had to go through a learning experience on many levels. We were purchased by a broadcast group [Sinclair Broadcast] that had never broadcasted wrestling. We were going to a larger platform we'd never been on and sometimes you need to dial back to realize you made mistakes. Ring of Honor did that and right now everything is firing on all cylinders. It's about time people are paying attention to Ring of Honor the way they should have because we've been doing good throughout that time. Now we're going on pay-per-view and the timing couldn't be better.
Wrestling INC: Do you sense there's more of a competitive rivalry between ROH and TNA now? TNA is contacting ROH talent and the company also has an upcoming pay-per-view. It feels like there's more of a rivalry than before.
Strong: I guess. There's no rivalry between me and TNA. I know nothing about TNA contacting anybody. Ring of Honor's goal is to become as big as we can. The bigger every company becomes, the better it is for the wrestling fans and wrestlers. I want nothing but success for everybody. I think that goes around the board.
Wrestling INC: For awhile, it became common for ROH wrestlers to leave for companies such as the WWE and TNA. Now with wrestlers like AJ Styles, Chris Hero, and Christopher Daniels coming back into the fold, how does it feel having them mixed with the younger guys?
Strong: It's great. Those guys are super talented and I don't think anybody would be upset with super talented guys back in the mix tearing it up. I'm excited for Ring of Honor and excited those guys have the opportunity to comeback. People are excited for them coming back to face the current Ring of Honor talent. I think it's a win-win for everybody.
Wrestling INC: When you first debuted in ROH, you were with Generation Next, which was a group looking to make a name for themselves. A decade later and you're pretty much the opposite. How do you contrast those two ideologies?
Strong: I think there's a misconception about us protecting and helping the company that we love. I think we all have different viewpoints on what we are trying to do. All three have a common goal to protect Ring of Honor, no matter what it takes. Now, we're trying to make these guys better. Some people may not like how we're doing it and are pointing fingers that we're the bad guys. I guess we're going to be considered bad guys to some. If I had a wife I was protecting, people would think I'm a great guy because people are high on the latest flavor and we're not publicly doing things, which then makes us bad. I can understand that, but at the end people see what the big picture is. Generation Next was a different situation. We were there to save Ring of Honor, which was going through a tough time and they needed something and we didn't want to go through the process. So we took things into our own hands to help save Ring of Honor. We wanted the best for Ring of Honor at the time when it came to Generation Next.
Read more at http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0620/577218/roderick-strong-talks-roh-ppv/#fdbsg2AqwWIGqySL.99
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