The one that got away.

For as much as Rhodes accomplished on his list, the one thing he couldn’t tick off was getting in the ring with Roderick Strong. This was due to Strong wrapping up his time in ROH and the independent scene before heading to WWE, while Rhodes was still sitting through his non-compete clause, and when Rhodes was free to do whatever he wanted, Strong was already under contract with WWE.

When Rhodes ended up returning to WWE in 2022, Strong was wrestling exclusively on the “WWE NXT” brand, but just a few months after returning, Rhodes famously tore his pectoral muscle off the bone before his Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins and sat out the rest of 2022 injured, while Strong wrestled his final WWE match during the time Rhodes was out injured, and even though he was still with WWE when Rhodes returned at the 2023 Royal Rumble event, Strong hadn’t been used in several months and would show up in AEW by May 2023. Strong is still with AEW to this day, where he is both a former AEW International Champion and one of the most consistent performers in the world in the eyes of the fans.