Will Bobby Roode Make SmackDown Glorious?

It’s become a bit of a tradition for longtime NXT Champions to debut on WWE’s main roster shortly after losing the championship. You would think with this in mind, NXT Champions would be all about losing the title as soon as possible. It takes some time though.

Having watched TNA/Impact/Global Force Wrestling off and on since 2002, I’ve seen a lot of wrestlers pass through on their way to WWE. Guys like AJ Styles & Samoa Joe faced the perception that what they did wouldn’t work in WWE. AJ was too small & couldn’t talk. Joe was too stiff and wasn’t cosmetically pleasing. It took a long time, but both men eventually overcame the perception and are in WWE doing their thing.

Nobody has ever said that what Bobby Roode did would never work in WWE. I’ve wondered for most of his career why he wasn’t in WWE. He seemed like everything they could possibly want in a wrestler. He had the look. He had the work. He could talk.

One of the guys that trained Roode early in his career was Val Venis. For years, Val was WWE’s go-to wrestler for working with guys that needed to learn the WWE style. He didn’t get pushed for most of his career, but they always appreciated his work. If you watched a Roode match at any point in the past fifteen years, you might have noticed a lot of similarities in his wrestling style to Venis. Heck, if I didn’t know better I’d say they might be brothers.

The only drawback for Roode in 2017? He’s 40. That used to be a bugaboo for WWE, but now it doesn’t seem like a concern. He’s in the same age range of Styles, John Cena, Randy Orton & most of WWE’s top players right now. And from where I sit, Roode has gotten better with age. Like a glorious wine.

For whatever reason, Roode took forever to make the move. He was happy where he was. TNA treated him well. He holds the record for longest TNA World Heavyweight & Tag Team title reigns. Bobby Roode’s TNA run can’t be classified as anything other than successful. Eventually, it was time to move on. With the company future in doubt moreso than usual in early 2016, Roode decided it was time to move on.

He appeared in NXT. A lot of people found that kind of odd, as it wasn’t like Roode needed time to adapt to the WWE style. The WWE style of most of this century is how Bobby Roode works. NXT might not have been entirely necessary for Roode, but it was ultimately a good thing. He got a long run as NXT Champion, he got some time to anchor a brand & be a top guy, and he got awesome theme music.

It was the final piece of the puzzle. The Nashville Predators adopting the song during their Stanley Cup playoff run was icing on the cake. It was only a matter of time before Roode would make the move…it was just a question of which show would get lucky,

I know some were wondering why Roode debuted as a good guy. Being a bad guy is in his DNA. Roode has been a heel for most of his career & excells in the role. he can be good, but he’s much better bad. I don’t think we need to worry about this. Roode definitely came off brash in his interview with Renee Young after the match. Putting him against Aiden English on his debut made sense for one simple reason…
The Brooklyn fans were going to cheer him.

It’s Bobby Roode making his debut on SmackDown Live as a WWE Superstar after nineteen years in the wrestling business. He’s reached the pinnacle of wrestling. Wrestling fans, especially fans that follow the business closely like many of the Brooklyn fans do, are inclined to cheer on such occasions. They could have had him attack AJ Styles, Sami Zayn or Nakamura or whoever he might end up feuding with. People still would have cheered, and that would have made whoever the babyface was look bad. So let them cheer him his first time out. Somewhere down the road, they’ll figure out that he’s a pompous, over-bearing ass, and he’ll get the proper boos.

It’ll be…glorious? Sure, why not.

So what can we expect from Bobby Roode on SmackDown Live? Will he, in fact, make SmackDown Glorious? I’m optimistic, but we all know the recent track record for NXT call-ups or WWE newcomers in general. What’s Mike Kanellis done since his high-profile debut with a cool theme song? Where’s Tye Dillinger been since his call-up from NXT? People were hoping for big things from both of those gentlemen. They have fun entrances. They have nothing else going for them now. No feuds, little TV time. They got their foot in the door, but they haven’t made it to the bedroom.

There’s been a lot of speculation as to why NXT call-ups mostly have a tough time making the transition. Whether Vince McMahon & Kevin Dunn are biased against these people or not, something happens where they don’t live up to the hype. There’s been a couple of exceptions.
Fortunately for Roode, I think he has more in common with Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens than Tye Dillinger & Mojo Rawley. Roode isn’t a Full Sail creation. He’s gotten over everywhere he’s been. He’s more than an entrance & a gimmick. He’s a solid worker that can get in there with anybody. Singles, tag teams, whatever it takes.

The best case scenario for Roode is he falls into a familiar role as perennial champion or contender. No title is off the table, whether it’s the WWE Championship, US Championship or the Raw versions. Roode can carry any title with aplomb.

The worst case scenario for Roode? Vince loves his work and decides he needs to work with the young guys for the next few years. Even then, Roode can draw a paycheck for a long time.

WWE should be Glorious for years to come.