MGP: Roddy Strong on Sting’s AEW impact and Kevin Patrick on his WWE run

Welcome to another edition of the ‘Monday Gorilla Position’! A weekly column here at Cageside Seats that dissects the latest shows and reports, and tries to figure out just what is going on in the world of WWE, AEW & more!

“First and foremost, I’m just honored to be on the same card as [Sting] in general, but also it being such a special night for him makes my night even more special.” – Roderick Strong

Tony Khan has put together quite the card for this Sunday’s AEW Revolution PPV, taking place at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Samoa Joe will defend his AEW World Title in a triple threat match against Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page. ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm will put her AEW Women’s Championship on the line against Deonna Purrazzo. Bryan Danielson will try to pry the Continental Crown out of the hands of Eddie Kingston. Christian Cage, Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and FTR are all in action as well.

The show this weekend will feature quite the collection of some of the best to ever lace ‘em up, along with the potential household names of tomorrow. The perfect table setter for what will be the final match for the Icon – the man known simply – as Sting.

Nearly three years to the day that Sting returned to competition, he will finish the final chapter of his in-ring career when he and Darby Allin defend their AEW Tag Team Championships, and undefeated streak, against ‘you better call us’ Matthew and Nicholas Jackson of the Young Bucks.

While one of the all-time greats deciding to leave his boots in the ring is bound to leave wrestling fans, both young and old, feeling a little down — it shouldn’t.

Yes, it’s sad that the ride is over, but the last three years of getting to watch Sting perform has been an absolute gift after it looked as though his career had come to close following a neck injury he suffered at WWE Night of Champions in 2015.

“I had a ton of respect for him prior, but even more so to see what he’s doing now. The fact that he came back, thought he couldn’t wrestle anymore, realized he still could, and is just like living on the edge.”

Roderick Strong will also be in action this Sunday when he challenges Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship. I had a chance to chat with the ‘Messiah of the Backbreaker’ this weekend on my radio show for 700WLW in Cincinnati.

He recalls Sting having a great attitude from the moment he stepped foot in All Elite Wrestling. Always welcome to a conversation and willing to help when called upon. Setting a new standard for being a legend in the business and the locker room.

He has just given so much of himself to AEW and Darby [Allin] and all of his opponents. It’s just been so impressive.” Strong said. “I just look at a lot of stuff more on the personal side than the business side, because you could talk to him about pro wrestling, but just to see the example [he sets]. He comes to work. He’s ready to work. He does his job. It’s a good reminder to all of us to maximize our opportunities and our time because you never know when it’s gonna go away. Come to work, be personable. He’s just a legend. And he’s the man.”

Roddy’s first introduction to the Icon came in the mid-to-late 90’s. Growing up a fan of pro wrestling during the height of Hulk Hogan’s run in WWE (then the WWF), Strong fell out of touch with the business for a while before rediscovering his love when he began following his father to the gym for training sessions.

By then the transformation from the energetic platinum blonde surfer Sting to the mysterious Crow-inspired figure was in full swing. Like many of us who grew up during the height of the Monday Night Wars, it was hard not to be captivated by this strange man who lived in the rafters and would zipline to the ring armed with an all-black baseball bat.

“Seeing him from the Crow, it just was a little shocking to me. And then going back and researching and just learning more about it and watching more of this stuff. It makes sense why when he changed, it had such an impact on the business because he was such a popular figure when he was ‘surfer’ Sting. It’s one of those things with me, I’ve really fallen in love and gained more respect for a lot of those guys as my career has [gone] on, and just seeing what they’ve done and how they’ve evolved.”

Evolution is one of the keys to a lengthy career in pro wrestling. Adapt or die as they say, especially with today’s audiences who seem to get bored with literally anything at a record-breaking pace.

A veteran of the business for well over two decades now, Roderick Strong credits his own longevity to completely changing up his training regime. Making a concerted effort back in 2012 to focus in on his mobility and flexibility to keep his body in the best shape he possibly can.

Strong called it a rebuild from the ground up and says he feels better now than he did when he was 30 years-old. Does that mean he plans to follow in Sting’s footsteps and wrestle into his 60’s?

“(laughs) No, sir. I’ll definitely be involved with wrestling at that age still, but I will be working in the coaching production side of things by then. I’ll always be attached to wrestling. I don’t wanna say it’s the only thing I know, but it is the thing I care to continuously learn about the most, other than trying to become a better person at this point in time in my life.”

Roderick made his surprise debut for AEW last April after letting his WWE contract expire the November prior.

As he approaches his one year anniversary of becoming All Elite, Strong is able to look back on the last 10 months, as well as his time in WWE, with great fondness. The transition from one company to the next had its awkward moments, as one would expect in any line of work, but Roddy says the move to AEW has been everything he hoped it would be.

Passion is word that Strong used several times during our conversation. Describing both the locker room and the company’s President and CEO. He called Tony Khan “insane” in the best way possible when describing his enthusiasm for the business.

“If there’s one thing I can talk about passionately, besides my family, it’s wrestling. I just love it and I love everything that goes into it. How much of a mental challenge it is,” Roddy said. “The physical stuff is difficult, but trying to understand human psychology and trying to maintain aspects of being different in the same world, it’s just such a challenge and it’s so fun.”

Strong really came into his own as a performer during his run with the Undisputed Era in NXT. And as thankful as he was to gain that experience and confidence, when his WWE contract was nearing it’s expiration date, Strong knew he wanted to find a platform where he had more time to properly showcase his new finely sharpened skill set.

“I loved my time at WWE. It was great. Obviously there were a few ups and downs in the last year I was there, but prior to that, it was an amazing experience. They gave me so many opportunities just to do things I had never done before. And you realize that’s the only way you get good at any of that stuff.” Strong said. “I [wanted to be] able to use this knowledge more. Not like you can’t do that in WWE, you can, but there’s not as much of an opportunity to do it as big and as deep as you wanna do it. Couple that with the passion in the [AEW] locker room, people wanting this thing to become bigger and realizing that we all play a little part in it. It is just awesome.”

Strong found the feeling of joining All Elite Wrestling very similar to when he signed on to be a member of the Ring of Honor roster for the first time.

This weekend he’ll look to capture gold for the first time since signing with AEW, but he no doubt has a daunting task ahead of him in the form of Freshly Squeezed Orange Cassidy.

Fans in the U.S. can watch AEW Revolution on Bleacher Report and PPV this Sunday night (it will be available everywhere else in the world via TrillerTV). The main show starts at 8pm ET, and Cageside Seats will have full coverage of the event from Greensboro, North Carolina — before, during, and after the show.

With dream offer on the table, Kevin (Patrick) Egan knew it was time to turn the page on WWE.

It did not take long for Kevin Egan to land on his feet. The former WWE broadcaster has landed what he calls a dream job and is in the very enviable position of being able to focus all of his attention on one thing. That one thing being the world of professional soccer.

(As someone who’s been spinning several plates for many years, believe me when I say it’s a very enviable position.)

Known as Kevin Patrick (using his legal middle name as a surname) during his tenure with WWE, Egan ran the gamut of broadcasting roles within the company. Serving as a backstage correspondent, kick-off show host and lead commentator of both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

His employment with WWE came to an end last month after reports surfaced that company executives just did not see him as the right fit for the commentary table. Having a chance to chat about the split briefly over the weekend with Egan, he again made it very clear that there were no hard feelings.

“Absolutely loved my time with WWE. Nothing but love for everybody there. I’ll look back on my time there brilliantly, and I know I’ll go visit friends when WWE is in town, I’ll go say hi to everybody. I left very amicably with everybody there.”

Egan joined on me on 700WLW Saturday night to preview the MLS season opener between FC Cincinnati and Toronto FC that ended in a draw Sunday afternoon, as well as his new role on Apple TV as the host of MLS 360.

Naturally, I snuck as many wrestling related questions into the conversation as time allotted. Egan has been calling Major League Soccer matches for the last 10 seasons and is clearly in his element on those broadcasts. I’m not blowing smoke at all when I say he’s very good at what he does.

So, what was the most difficult part about transitioning from the soccer pitch to the wrestling ring?

“It was understanding the psychology of the moment and trying to figure out, okay, what’s the goal of this match?” Egan said. “When I think about the differences, or the common denominator between wrestling and soccer, storytelling is the common denominator. Whether it’s Roman Reigns and Randy Orton or whether it’s [FC] Cincinnati and Columbus [Crew], and ‘Hell is Real’ [nickname for the I-71 rivalry in MLS], there are stories that need to be told. You need to find your level of excitement at certain moments. That crescendo can happen certainly in a pro wrestling match, and then in a soccer match.”

Earlier this month, it was announced that Egan would be taking over as the new host for MLS 360 on Apple TV and the Apple TV App. An unprecedented whip-around program for MLS as Egan describes it, similar to the NFL Red Zone Channel, that really dives a bit further into the audience participation.

“Everything about this show screams me, and I hate to say it like that because it sounds egotistical, but it’s my dream job. It’s absolutely my dream job to be bouncing around the grounds, bouncing around through the goals, bringing you all the live updates. It’s me to a tee for anyone that knows me really well. It’s what I’m all about. So it is the dream job and it’s something that was so important for me to go all in on this.”

It’ll be a bit of a chaotic program for Egan, but nothing that he’s unfamiliar with in the slightest. One could say the unpredictability of WWE programming made for the perfect training ground as Egan embarks on this new endeavor.

While some may hear the horror stories of last minute script changes and the disorderly nature of TV day in WWE, especially during the latter years of Vince McMahon’s tenure as the lead man in charge of creative, Egan says the whirlwind of it all and adapting on the fly was an atmosphere in which he could thrive.

“That’s the best part. Chaos is fun. When it’s organized chaos, for most people in broadcasting, that’s what I love. That’s what I absolutely love. And that was the case with WWE. It will be the case with MLS 360 as well. There are always chapters in our lives and I think for me, the WWE chapter was an epic one. I’ll always look back on it with nothing but great memories, but it was time. It was time for me personally. I knew it was time to turn the page. And with this exciting offer on the table to go all in on [MLS 360], it’s just so exciting for me.”

You can follow Rick Ucchino on X/Twitter and stay tuned for more in depth interviews with WWE and AEW talent here on Cageside Seats.