Roderick Strong
Born	(1983-07-26) July 26, 1983 (age 41)[1] Wisconsin, United States[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Roderick Strong The Jester Roderick Swarm
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Billed weight	212 lb (96 kg)[1]
Billed from	New Orleans, Louisiana Tampa, Florida
Trained by	Jim Neidhart[3] The Warlord[3] Prince Iaukea[3] Tim Mahoney His father[3]
Debut	2000[1]

Chris Lindsey (born July 26, 1983 in Wisconsin) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Roderick Strong. Strong currently competes in several independent promotions, most notably Ring of Honor, Full Impact Pro and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

Lindsey was born in Wisconsin, but relocated to Florida at a young age. Following a troubled childhood, Lindsey graduated from Riverview High School, where he played American football, He went on to attend the University of South Florida on an academic scholarship. Lindsey majored in Business for two years before postponing his academic career.^[2][4]

In the autumn of 1994, Lindsey's father, a former collegiate wrestler, began training as a wrestler under Jim Neidhart. After Lindsey attended several training sessions and met Harry Smith, a third generation wrestler, he decided to become a wrestler. Lindsey was trained by Neidhart and a number of other wrestlers in Tampa, Florida and debuted in 2000 as The Jester on the Floridian independent circuit for the RWA.^[3][4]

Strong wrestled his first match for the Independent Professional Wrestling promotion, competing in a twenty man cruiserweight Battle royal. He was initially one-third of a stable known as "Risk Factor" with The Kamikaze Kid & Kid Lethal before he formed a tag team with his trainee and kayfabe brother, Sedrick Strong. The Strong Brothers defeated Wrongful Death (Naphtali and Dagon Briggs) for the IPW Tag Team Championship on June 28, 2002 in St. Petersburg, Florida. They held the title until September 20, when they lost to Naturally Marvelous (Scoot Andrews and Mike Sullivan) in a steel cage match in which Roderick suffered a concussion.^[3][4][5]

After Sedrick cost the Strong Brothers a number of matches, Roderick turned heel on February 8, 2003, betraying Sedrick and aligning himself with the Alliance of Defiance, a dominant heel stable.^[6]

After IPW closed down in late 2003, Strong began working for NWA Florida, a promotion which had had a working relationship with IPW for two years. Strong defeated David Babylon for the Florida Unified Cruiserweight Championship on July 19, 2003 in St. Petersburg. While Strong was champion, the title was renamed the Florida Unified Junior Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Jerrelle Clark in a four way match on December 13, 2003 in St. Petersburg. Clark vacated the title on January 10, 2004 after winning the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, and Strong defeated Mikey Batts for the vacant title on February 21 in the New Alhambra Sports and Entertainment Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He lost the title to Sedrick Strong on April 29, 2004, in New Port Richey, Florida.^[4][7][8]

In addition to wrestling for NWA Florida, Strong served as the head trainer of the NWA Florida wrestling school. ^[6]

Strong joined the Pennsylvania-based Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion in September 2003. On May 22, 2004, at Generation Next he formed a stable known as Generation Next with Alex Shelley, Austin Aries and Jack Evans. Generation Next quickly dominated the ROH roster, declaring themselves the future of wrestling. After defeating several other stables, they defeated CM Punk, Ace Steel, John Walters and Jimmy Jacobs (mentored by Ricky Steamboat) on October 2 at The Midnight Express Reunion.^[1]

Strong began punctuating his ring style with stiff offense, acting as the enforcer of Generation Next. In November 2004 he formed a regular tag team with Evans, and on December 26 he, Evans and Aries threw Shelley out of the group when he refused to resign as leader. Strong and Evans continued to team throughout early-2005, but were unable to win the ROH Tag Team Championship. On July 9, 2005 at Escape from New York, Strong faced CM Punk for the ROH World Championship, but was defeated. On September 24 at Survival of the Fittest 2005, Strong defeated Samoa Joe, Jay Lethal, Generation Next teammate Austin Aries, and Colt Cabana to win the titular event, thus earning himself another shot at the ROH World Championship in the future. ^[1][4]

On October 1 at Joe vs. Kobashi, valet Jade Chung aligned herself with Strong (and the remainder of Generation Next) after he defeated her former client, Jimmy Rave. The following night, Strong defeated James Gibson in his last match for Ring of Honor before returning to World Wrestling Entertainment. Following the match, Gibson gave a farewell speech in which he called Strong the "MVP" of Ring of Honor.^[1][4]

Strong lost to ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson on October 29 in Woodbridge, Connecticut and on November 5 in Chicago, with the match going over 45 minutes. On March 31 in Chicago, Strong faced Bryan Danielson a third time for the ROH World Championship, with a 60 minute time limit, but Roderick came up short with Danielson rolling up Strong at the 56 minute mark for the victory. ^[1]

At Final Battle 2005 on December 17, 2005, Strong and Aries defeated Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until September 16, 2006, when they were defeated by The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli). In February 2007, Strong turned on Aries to form a new faction with Davey Richards called the No Remorse Corps.^[1]

The No Remorse Corps went on to feud with Aries' new faction The Resilience. Rocky Romero joined the NRC, while Matt Cross and Erick Stevens joined The Resilience. Though the NRC dominated the feud for the most part, the feud's end came with Strong losing matches to Aries at both Undeniable and Reckless Abandon in a 30-minute Iron Man Match.

Strong then began to feud with Stevens over the FIP title. Strong lost the title to Stevens at Final Battle 2007, but won it back at FIP Redefined. He continued to hold onto the belt in several matches with Stevens, and won a Fight Without Honor against Stevens at ROH Respect is Earned II by superplexing Stevens off a ladder through two tables. However, he lost the FIP title to Stevens at FIP Hot Summer Nights 2008 in a Dog Collar match to end their feud.

At Respect is Earned II, Davey Richards turned on Strong to join Sweet and Sour Inc. Since then Strong has been feuding with the group, often being on the losing side of matches.

In his first major appearance with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Strong lost a special "Showcase Match" to Austin Aries at the TNA Unbreakable pay-per-view on September 11, 2005. On September 22, it was announced that he had signed a contract with TNA, and would wrestle A.J. Styles on the first episode of TNA Impact! on Spike TV on October 1. Strong went on to lose the subsequent bout. ^[1][4]

In December 2005, Strong toured Japan with the Dragon Gate promotion. In 2006, he formed a stable in TNA with Austin Aries and Alex Shelley. In February 2006, he and Aries were both suspended for two months for arriving four hours late for the pay-per-view TNA Against All Odds 2006.^[9] He returned to TNA in April 2006, but was released shortly thereafter.

On November 10, 2006, in Inverness, Florida, Strong defeated Bryan Danielson in a title-versus-career match to win the FIP Heavyweight Championship, the heavyweight championship of the Floridian Full Impact Pro promotion. When he defended the title against Pac in Liverpool on the 3rd of March, the FIP Heavyweight championship became the FIP World Heavyweight Championship.

Strong had his first match in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla on February 12, 2005, wrestling a total of two matches in that year. After he and Jack Evans defeated El Generico and Human Tornado, the two challenged Davey Richards and Super Dragon for the PWG World Tag Team Championship, but were defeated.

Throughout 2006, Strong won numerous singles matches and took part in the Battle of Los Angeles tournament, losing to Richards. On November 17, 2006, Strong teamed with Richards to defeat Super Dragon and B-Boy for the PWG World Tag Team Championship; however, Super Dragon and B-Boy regained the title on the following day.

Strong would win his second PWG tag title as a result of the Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament held in May 2007 to determine new PWG World Tag Team Champions. This time, however, Strong would win the titles with UK wrestler PAC. Strong would enter PWG's Battle of Los Angeles and defeat Austin Aries, Joey Ryan and Alex Shelley on his way to the finals before being defeated by CIMA.

On May 17 and 18 Strong entered PWG's second annual DDT4 tag team tournament this time with partner Jack Evans. They would go on to defeat the teams of Scorpio Sky and Ronin and Los Luchas on their way to the finals where they defeated the PWG Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen and El Generico to become champions. This was Strong's second victory in a DDT4 tournament.

On July 6, 2008 at Life During Wartime in Reseda, California, Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black defeated the team of El Generico (substituting for Jack Evans) and Strong to win the PWG World Tag Team Championship.

• Finishing moves
  • CX '02 (Crucifix hold twisted and dropped into a modified cutter)
  • CX '03 (Straight jacket Gory neckbreaker)
  • Death by Roderick (Fireman's carry double knee gutbuster, sometimes from the second rope)
  • Gibson Driver (Sitout double underhook powerbomb)
  • Half nelson backbreaker
  • Inverted cloverleaf, sometimes with bodyscissors
  • Strong Hold (Elevated Boston crab with a knee to the back or a straight jacket choke)

• Signature moves
  • Backhand chop
  • Diving elbow drop
  • Double leg slam
  • Multiple backbreaker variations
    • Argentine, sometimes while dropping to a seated position
    • Belly to back
    • Canadian, sometimes while dropping to a seated position
    • Catapult
    • Double underhook
    • Pendulum
    • Power–Breaker (Powerbomb onto the knee)
    • Side slam, sometimes preceded by a capture suplex lift
    • STO
    • Tilt–a–whirl
  • Multiple suplex variations
    • Capture
    • Double underhook
    • Sitout, sometimes preceded by a slingshot
  • Sick Kick (Running single leg dropkick or a running big boot)
  • Slingshot suplex powerslam

• With Jack Evans
  • Finishing moves
    • Ode to the Bulldogs / Skipping a Generation (Strong has one opponent in a backbreaker rack and as the other opponent is behind Strong, Evans hits a diving double stomp off the top rope on the opponent's chest in the backbreaker rack then jumps off the opponent's chest and then performs a diving splash, diving senton or a 180° corkscrew moonsault onto the other opponent, as Strong hits a sitout backbreaker drop using momentum from the diving double stomp)
  • Signature moves
    • Vertical suplex (Strong) / 450° splash (Evans) combination
    • Roderick grabs Evans' leg and flips Evans into an assisted standing corkscrew 450° splash
    • Multiple powerbomb / moonsault combination variations
      • Strong lifts Evans into a powerbomb position, while Jack flips into a standing moonsault double stomp to an opponent's back, while being trapped between the top turnbuckle and middle rope
      • Strong lifts Evans into a powerbomb position, while Jack flips into a moonsault onto the fallen opponent
      • Strong lifts Evans up with a military press and throws him into an opponent in the corner, resembling a Fastball Special

• Managers
  • Jade Chung
  • Ron Niemi
  • So Cal Val

• American Wrestling Federation
  • AWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Florida X Division Championship (2 times)^[8]

• Full Impact Pro
  • FIP Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Erick Stevens
  • FIP World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[10]

• Florida Entertainment Wrestling
  • FEW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Independent Professional Wrestling
  • IPW Florida Unified Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)^[7]
  • IPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sedrick Strong^[5]

• Independent Wrestling Association East Coast
  • IWA-EC Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)

• Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South
  • Revolution Strong Style Tournament (2008)^[11]

• Lethal Wrestling Federation
  • LWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
  • PWG World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Davey Richards (1), PAC (1) and Jack Evans (1)

• Ring of Honor
  • ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Austin Aries
  • Survival of the Fittest (2005)

• South Florida Championship Wrestling
  • SFCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • SFCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Justin Venom

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Most Improved Wrestler (2005)

• Roderick Strong at OWW.com

• Roderick Strong at IMDb