WWE News: Bobby Roode talks losing his passion in TNA, move to NXT

What’s the story?

This past week, Bobby Roode wrapped up his final pair of NXT dates with a couple of live event appearances in Ontario.

Heading into those shows, Roode spoke to the Peterborough Examiner, where he discussed about losing his passion whilst in TNA, weighing up his options and ultimately his signing with WWE.

In case you didn’t know…

Prior to signing with WWE, Bobby Roode spent 12 years with TNA, before eventually departing the company back in March of 2016. Just a couple of weeks later, he then showed up in the audience at Takeover: Dallas, before going on to make his NXT debut in a surprise appearance at Download Festival.

From there, Roode went on to win the NXT Championship, and after his 203-day reign ended at Takeover: Brooklyn, made a much-deserved step up to the main roster on the post-SummerSlam showing of SmackDown.

The heart of the matter

It seems like Roode was at something of a crossroads towards the tail end of his TNA run. He speaks of being in rather “unfamiliar territory” having lost his drive and passion for the business, but at the same time still knowing that he had “a lot of good years left” in him.

Naturally, that made the jump to WWE, and specifically NXT, the most logical decision to be made, and it's been one that he's had no regrets over. Roode describes his time in developmental as “the most gratifying year and the funnest year I've had in a very, very long time, maybe in my entire career.”

He also touched upon his entrance music, noting that he initially thought it could go one of two ways in “it could really suck or it could be really great.” Clearly, it was the latter that proved to be the case.

What's next?

Having now made his debut on the main roster, Roode’s been tipped for big things.

After just two televised SmackDown matches so far, expect to see him given a proper stage on which to shine at the next SmackDown exclusive pay-per-view, when Hell in a Cell rolls around on October 8.

Author’s take

Ultimately, it’s good to see that Roode got his mojo back after what was likely a difficult time towards the end of his 12-year TNA run.

And while age may not necessarily be entirely on his side, there’s still heaps of potential in his main roster run, so don’t expect to see him losing any of that passion again anytime in the near future.