Michael Hayes Reflects On Preparing Bobby Roode To Eventually Be His Successor

Michael Hayes says Triple H has asked him to prepare Bobby Roode to take over his role in WWE someday. Speaking with Stephanie McMahon on What’s Your Story?, Hayes, who has been a producer at WWE since 1999, said Triple H compared him to Pat Patterson and told him he needed to develop Roode as his successor. Hayes praised how far Roode has come and also recalled how Patterson helped him get his start behind the scenes. You can check out his comments below:

On Triple H Asking Him to Develop Bobby Roode:

“I’ll tell you, Trips came up to me one day, and he goes, ‘So Michael, you know you’re not going to be around forever.’ What does that mean? Life or work? Something I don’t know about? He said, ‘You’re our Pat Patterson. I need you to make Bobby Roode, Michael.’ And I said, ‘Okay, that’s a really good point, because I’m not going to be here forever.’ And boy, has he come along. Bobby’s really, really good, and he’s going to be great.”

On What Roode Still Has To Learn:

“I see great things for him. He’s just got to get past the stuff — and I don’t know how to really categorize this stuff, that happens in this industry that’s just out of your control, and it’s just going to happen. You just got to kind of let it go and say, ‘Okay, we’re doing this.’ And don’t waste so much energy bitching about doing it, because you’re going to do it. It’s happening anyway. So save the energy to do it and find a way. And I still have problems with that.”

On How Pat Patterson Helped Him:

“If it wasn’t for Pat… Pat went to Vince and said, ‘Here’s your next guy.’ First of all, we hit it off as people. I met him briefly when we first came in. That was just a blip on the screen. Then when I first came here, in production meetings I would sit at his table, and we would cut up and have fun. Pat’s going to cut up, so you either cut up with him or you get caught cutting up with him. We just hit it off as friends. Pat’s not getting in trouble; I’m always getting in trouble. I can’t tell you how much s**t I’ve got in trouble for that I didn’t do. I wasn’t even there. There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t get in trouble for that I did do.

“But we just started trading ideas. I’d always heard that Pat was the greatest at finishes. I started liking finishes early. Early in wrestling, I knew I just wasn’t going to wrestle forever. I knew I was in it for the long haul, and I wanted to learn how to book and do the other stuff, promote. I loved this business from the first time I saw it, and it loved me back. Because our business will love you back if you love it. Our business will be there for you through all the trials and tribulations. And when you feel that nobody’s there for you, the business is right there.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit What’s Your Story? with Steph McMahon with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.