The NXT North American Champion reveals how close he came to leaving wrestling altogether in 2008/2009.
Before signing with WWE in 2016, Strong was one of the biggest names on the independent scene during his time with Ring of Honor. The 36-year-old started in ROH alongside the likes of Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Bryan Danielson (WWE’s Daniel Bryan); however, all three men would go on to bigger companies whereas Strong remained in ROH for a lengthy period of time.
Despite his hard work and dedication to the business, the NXT North American Champion eventually doubted whether he would even branch out to the bigger companies and actually contemplated retirement due to being unsure if he’ll ever make it into the big leagues (transcript courtesy of
fightful.com):
"When I got grouped in with the AJ Styles, CM Punks, Samoa Joes, Daniel Bryans, I felt like 'this has the potential to be the greatest era of wrestling ever.' As guys started to make it, even though I was doing a lot of great stuff in Ring of Honor and going to Japan, you start thinking, 'Do I not have what it takes? Am I not good enough?' There was a stage where I was getting into my own head," Strong revealed on
After The Bell.
"It was about 2008 into 2009, I kind of contemplated like, 'I don't know if I necessarily want to do this anymore.' Not like I was jealous of all the other guy's success. I just felt, personally, that I'm in the same league as them and I wanted the opportunity to show the world. It was a small stretch of time, just a few months, but after that I had a come to Jesus meeting with myself. I looked in the mirror and said, 'Your path has always been different and will continue to be different. When you get the opportunity, you're gonna make the most of it.' And here I am today."
Since signing with the promotion in 2016, Strong has made a lasting impression amongst the WWE audience and has managed to capture the NXT Tag Teams titles as well.