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Did you know that Roderick Strong has now been FIP World Heavyweight Champion for over a year? Well, now Strong is determined to make you aware of this fact. For just over a year Strong has taken on all challengers in FIP and a few in ROH. He has brought the belt to World Title status by defending it in the UK against PAC at ROH's Fifth Year Festival. He has battled the best upcoming talent from Japan like Yamato and Shingo, defended it in wild brawls against the likes of The Necro Butcher and even found a new teammate after a series of matches against Davey Richards. Now Strong demands that the fans show the FIP World Heavyweight Title respect. In fact, he thinks he deserves more accolades than new ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness. "What has Nigel done with the ROH World Title?" Strong said. "He wins the belt and then gets injured. What kind of a champion is that? Now look at what I've done since winning the FIP World Heavyweight Title from Bryan Danielson. Look at the list of challengers I've defeated: Kenny King, Delirious, Tyler Black, Jimmy Rave, Austin Aries, Christopher Daniels, Hallowicked, Sal Rinauro, Steve Madison, Brent Albright, Larry Sweeney and the list goes on and on. When Nigel has defeated half those men I will show him a little respect." The disrespect between Strong and McGuinness has grown in recent weeks. Strong is now trying to make the reputation of the FIP World Heavyweight Title at McGuinness' expense. It all started when Strong interrupted Nigel's first in ring interview as champion on 10/19 in Las Vegas. It continued on 11/9 in FIP when Strong took exception to a surprise McGuinness appearance. Strong has been aggressive in making his point. In fact, he has been so aggressive that he now wears the FIP belt to all his ROH matches and he has been petitioning ROH officials to schedule more title defenses. ROH officials have been receptive to this idea and encourage this athletic rivalry. Fans have long called for a secondary title in ROH. However, this goes against a basic philosophy of ROH officials. The FIP World Heavyweight Title presents ROH officials with a different opportunity though. ROH officials' thoughts on a secondary title go like this. Basically, a secondary title is just that, a secondary title. It means that the man who holds it is second best. It designates him lower on the card. Competitors on the ROH roster have never been assigned into glass ceiling like classes on the card. Someone who main events one night could be in the opening match the next night. This prevents the roster from becoming stagnant and gives everyone encouragement to keep improving their performance. A secondary title will only serve to make a distinct class system. Now ROH did try a second title with the now defunct Pure Title. The distinctive rules of the Pure Title gave it an opportunity to be more than a secondary title. However, until Nigel McGuinness made entertaining use of the rules the ROH fans never bought the belt as being very important and it only served to designate its holder as a midcarder. The FIP World Heavyweight Title now brings a new opportunity. It belongs to the best athlete in FIP. This means that he is also a high level competitor in ROH. "See this isn't some BS secondary title," Strong said. "This is the top belt of a growing company. All you have to do is see a FIP show from Crystal River to see how much the Florida fans care about this belt. Now I'm going to make all you ROH fans care more about it. You will respect this belt because it deserves it."
I've been a fan of his for a while now and even though the FIP is considered just an indy belt, it's still getting up there with the ROH one.
I think it's alot better than both the IC and US belts.
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