Roddy preps for his bouts.
This weekend EVOLVE is hosting back-to-back shows with the first being EVOLVE 117 in Queens, New York and the second being EVOLVE 118 in Deer Park, New York. There has been an influx of NXT talent that has been incorporated into the fray of EVOLVE and those NXT stars are current EVOLVE Champion Fabian Aichner and current EVOLVE Tag Team Champions The Street Profits. Other talents within WWE such as Mustafa Ali and Kassius Ohno have worked the recent EVOLVE shows and at EVOLVE 117 and 118, one-half of the current NXT Tag Team Champions Roderick Strong will be on the road with the promotion as well and on his first night back he will have the chance to become EVOLVE Champion when he faces Fabian Aichner and Austin Theory in a Triple-Threat match with the title on the line.
Strong did an interview with WWE.com to promote the forthcoming shows and was asked for his thoughts on the former WWN Champion Austin Theory and Roddy responded with the following:
"Slightly. I hear more than I’ve actually seen, to be completely honest with you, because I’m extremely focused on NXT and WWE as a whole – but I also talk to a lot of people who still wrestle on the independents. Once you start hearing a buzz about somebody, you want to check them out because you never know if, and, or when exactly, they may come to NXT because NXT obviously has the best talent in the world." Roddy said. "From what I’ve seen and heard, he’s amazing. He’s super young and he keeps getting better. He’s in a position that I feel like I was [in] when I was on the independents, of just being put in tough positions. You either bust or you don’t, and Austin’s a guy whose name keeps coming up, so obviously he’s handling himself well. For me, as someone who’s been doing this for so long, that kind of stuff excites me. It’s a new match-up against a younger guy that’s making a name for himself, and I like to consider myself the measuring stick of wrestling in general. Fabian’s doing a great job himself, but I plan on pushing those guys at a pace that they’ve never really had before, and we’re going to see what those guys are made of."
On night two at EVOLVE 118, Roddy steps into the ring with rising star and daredevil Darby Allin. Allin has sent out a few teasers to Roderick Strong about their match but the Undisputed ERA member shared that he is prepared to face any type of wrestler.
"I’m always prepared. I’ve wrestled every kind of wrestler that there is. I’ve been in every situation that there possibly has been. If you look at my history, I fare very well against guys like Darby — the smaller risk takers. I guess this sounds sick, but my thing is, I’m just excited to see how much pain he will put himself through before he breaks." Roderick continued, "He’s wrestled a lot of guys, but there’s not anyone on the independents, or in WWE, that wrestles like me and is as relentless as I am, because I don’t care. I really don’t care. I will break him."
Results from both EVOLVE 117 and 118 will be published here on Fightful once those respective shows conclude. In the meantime, click here to see the results from EVOLVE 116.
