Strong would then enter the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles, defeating Biff Busick in the first round, and would make it to the finals albeit through cheating; getting a disqualification win over A.J. Styles and getting a bye over PWG World Champion Kyle O'Reilly in the semifinals after attacking him before the match. The three-way final match, which also included Johnny Gargano, was won by Ricochet. At Untitled II, Strong unsuccessfully challenged O'Reilly for the title. At Black Cole Sun, Strong defeated O'Reilly in a Guerrilla Warfare match to win the PWG World Championship for the first time after goading O'Reilly into a match after O'Reilly defeated BOLA winner Ricochet in a near thirty-minute match. Strong successfully defended the title against Trevor Lee at From Out of Nowhere, Zack Sabre Jr. in a critically acclaimed match at Don't Sweat the Technique and Brian Cage and Chris Hero in a three-way match at 2015 DDT. At Mystery Vortex III, Strong successfully defended the title against "Speedball" Mike Bailey in an open challenge and later helped The Young Bucks capture the PWG World Tag Team Championship and afterwards formed a new version of the Mount Rushmore stable with them and the returning Super Dragon. On December 11, Adam Cole joined the stable. On March 5, 2016, Strong lost the PWG World Championship to Zack Sabre Jr. He would later cash in his rematch clause against Sabre at Thirteen on July 29, 2016, and lose. He followed the match with a farewell speech to signal his departure from PWG after eleven years with the promotion. WWE NXT Championship pursuits (2016–2018) Strong made his NXT debut on the October 19, 2016 episode of NXT as Austin Aries' partner in the second Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, defeating Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight. On October 25, 2016, WWE officially announced Strong as part of the latest group of recruits joining the WWE Performance Center. On the December 14 episode of NXT, Strong defeated Elias Samson, in doing so getting himself entered into a fatal four-way match to determine a new number one contender for the NXT Championship as well as establishing himself as a fan favorite. Strong competed in the fatal-four way on the December 21 episode of NXT, but was unsuccessful. Strong defeated Andrade "Cien" Almas at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio in his first TakeOver appearance. Strong then began a rivalry with the