Courtesy: www.MondayNightMayhem.com
ROH World Champion Roderick Strong Discusses Final Battle 2010/His Title Defense vs. Davey Richards, His Reaction To Fans & Critics Alike That Feel His Run As Champion Will Be A Short One/Whether Or Not He Feels That He Receives Enough Respect As The Current ROH World Champion, Why Becoming The Greatest Champion In Ring Of Honor History Is Of The Greatest Importance To Him, Capturing The Gold From Tyler Black At Glory By Honor IX, Aligning Himself With Truth Martini & The House Of Truth, & What It Says About ROH’s Roster That Its Talent Are Wanted Commodities By Both The WWE & TNA
ROH World Champion Roderick Strong was one of the featured guests on this week’s live edition (12/6/10) of the award-winning Monday Night Mayhem. You can feel the “MNM Fall Tour ’10” every Monday evening (at 7PM ET/6PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com).
Roderick joined The Big Mosh & “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent for his debut on “Your Home of Wrestling Radio,” which is now available in Windows Streaming Media or via the official MNM Podcast on iTunes:
Roderick Strong/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Streaming Audio): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/120610.wax
Roderick Strong/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Podcast on iTunes): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/dec10/120610.mp3
Interview highlights courtesy of The Mayhem’s official correspondent, Paterson from New Jersey:
His experience of being the ROH World Champion since capturing the gold at Glory By Honor IX from Tyler Black: Am I going to wake up? Is thmis a dream? It’s something I’ve worked very hard for for many years, not even just my time in Ring of Honor, but before I even got there, and just understanding what the belt meant to the wrestling world, and the person that holds it, and the position he’s in. Everything’s been great man. It’s just motivating me to keep work harder and continuously improve. I feel like a lot of people think I have something to prove, but the only thing I have to prove to myself is that I’m the hardest working man in this business today, and I hold the most prestigious belt in wrestling today, so everything’s been great. I’m eager to get at it at the TV tapings and just continuously prove my point that I’m the best in the world.”
How he feels about many fans & critics predicting that Davey Richards will defeat him for the Ring of Honor World Title at Final Battle 2010 & whether or not he believes that he receives enough respect as the current ROH World Champion: “What I find it extremely funny about this whole situation is I’m kind of hearing the same thing. I feel like people think I’m David, and he’s Goliath, and if I beat him that it’s an accomplishment for me. What people need to understand is I set the standard in Ring of Honor for quite a long time along with Bryan Danielson, Low Ki, and all the other top guys that have been there. I’m on that level, and I’ve been on that level for years. There are a lot of people questioning me whether I’m going to lose the belt at Final Battle, or if I’m not, or do I have what it takes to beat Davey Richards? I’ve beaten Davey Richards before. Davey has beaten me before. We know each other very well. It’s not like this is the first time we have faced off. I think that night is not only going to shut a lot of people up, but hopefully it shuts Davey Richards up, because he wants to call himself the best in the world. Like I told Christopher Daniels, the best in the world is me, the Ring of Honor World Champion. That belt says it: plain and simple. If I don’t have that belt, I’m not the best in the world. I have the belt. They don’t have the belt. I’ve been in this situation with this company and with these fans that showed me respect because of my hard work. I finally accomplished something in my career that I’ve been working very hard towards, and now everyone wants to say I don’t deserve it? They’re not giving me the respect they gave me just because now I am champion. I just think it’s funny. It makes me laugh when I think about it actually.”
Looking back at the growth & evolution of Ring of Honor over the past six years since debuting with the company in 2004: “Obviously in the wrestling business, things are always changing. Ring of Honor has been changing along with the wrestling business. It’s a lot different now that they have television and getting our product out to the masses. Company wise, if you look at when I came into the company in 2004 and when the company started, it was young, hungry people that are the best in the business at being innovative, and working hard, and being a different kind of athlete then what you see on other wrestling shows.”
What does it say about the work ethic of the talent in ROH that they are wanted commodities in both the WWE & TNA: “The other two companies (WWE & TNA) realize that as times change, so does wresting. I think Ring of Honor has the most innovative and hard-working talent out there. I think that catches their eyes, because that brings something different to their product. That’s why people that go to Ring of Honor and are successful have an opportunity to go to that next level, and a lot of the guys have been very successful. That says a lot for Ring of Honor.”
Why becoming the best Ring of Honor World Champion in history is of the greatest importance to him: “My goal is to just cement my legacy as the best Ring of Honor World Champion in company history. I want to face everybody that they throw at me. I want to go night in and night out and fight, that’s what I do, and that’s what I’ve I’ve always done, and that’s all I want: to continue to cement my legacy as the greatest Ring of Honor World Champion of all time.”
More is contained in this exclusive interview with the current, reigning, & defending ROH World Champion, including his candid thoughts & comments on what he perceives are the similarities & differences between himself & Davey Richards (and how his preparation has been leading into their ROH World Title bout on December 18th), whether or not he thinks Ring of Honor is stacking the deck against him the night before Final Battle 2010 in his match vs. Kenny Omega, joining forces with Truth Martini & The House of Truth, those trying to break into the business by attempting to get on WWE’s Tough Enough, Samoa Joe’s current status with TNA (and if he can envision “The Samoan Submission Machine” returning to ROH full-time in 2011), plus so much more! Follow the champ right now on Twitter (at www.Twitter.com/RoderickStrong). Mayhem Nation: Don’t forget to tune in LIVE this Monday night, December 13th (beginning at 7PM ET/6PM CT), as the voice of ROH’s Internet Pay-Per-Views, Kevin Kelly, will return to “Your Home of Wrestling Radio” for an all-new installment of “Ring of Honor On the Road” to preview the entire lineup for Final Battle 2010. Log on to www.GoFightLive.tv, and be sure to order ROH’s return to iPPV. Treat yourself or that special someone to the perfect Christmas gift, seven days early: Final Battle 2010.