Bobby Roode did a recent interview with WhatCulture.com
and here are the highlights:
You’re in your 16th year as a pro. Do you have a long-term plan – how many more years do you intend to wrestle?
“Right now, physically, I feel good. I think I have a lot of years left to serve here, a lot of great years left. So long as I am able to go out there and produce great matches and keep the fans intrigued, and stay healthy, I think I have a lot of years left. Once I’m physically unable to do this any more, I’d like to stay in some sort of role where I can help guys get to certain points in their careers. But for right now, obviously the most important thing for me is my career and to continually get better, and to re-iterate the other question you just asked me, to once again become the World Heavyweight Champion and be the top guy in this company.”
You’re one of TNA’s longest serving stars. What’s your secret to staying fresh and relevant in the fans’ eyes?
“Just keep improving, keep getting better and giving the fans new something to watch. I guess, in my situation, I’m continually learning and wanting to learn. I’m trying to do new things to keep my character fresh all the time. That’s been something that I’ve been working on my entire career.”
Do you view the WWE as competition, or do you feel that TNA and WWE can co-exist quite happily?
“Oh, definitely I think we can co-exist. I think that competition is very good, I can’t see why WWE or TNA, one or the other, should go away. It’s great for the fans, it’s great for the wrestling business. I think that TNA offers the wrestling world an alternative in a way that they haven’t had in many years. Hopefully, the TNA Impact Wrestling brand can continue to grow, with the changes that we’ve made and the fresh faces we’ve brought in, the future’s looking very good.”
How confident are you that you’ll get another reign as TNA World Heavyweight Champion?
“Oh, I’m very confident that I can get that opportunity again. I think I’ve proven myself significantly from the first time I had the World title, becoming the longest reigning champion in the company’s history. You know, there will come a time when I get another opportunity to become champion and I’m going to make the best of that opportunity and hopefully, if I have it my way, it’ll be a bigger, better, longer reign than the first one.”
You worked a few matches for WWE in the early 2000s – how did the backstage atmosphere there differ from TNA?
“Back then, I really don’t remember to be honest with you. You have to understand that when I was going to do those matches, I was going in as a tryout, so I wasn’t really around or associate with any of the guys that were under contract and the guys that were the stars at the time. I was just there to try to get a look at, to try to get hired and be part of a company, and to be a professional wrestler. Here, it’s different.
When I came here, I was kinda in the same boat. I was trying to get hired here, to go out there and have a good match and to be seen by the people who needed to see me, so I could get a job and get a contract. But now that I’ve settled in here, backstage is great, and I have a lot of friends. You know, in wrestling, the morale can be up and down a lot, and that’s with any company. But right now, the morale is very good. I think we’re on pace right now to do some great things in the near future and to make that TNA brand even bigger.”
Why do you think TNA is so much more popular in the UK than the US?
“When you’re in North America and you’re able to perform here eleven months out of the year, fans are able to get in their cars and travel to these shows, or fly in maybe once in a while to watch an Impact taping. In the UK, we’re there once a year and that’s the difference. You don’t get to see us very much, whereas here in North America, we’re here all the time, so if you want to come and watch a live event, you can basically come at any given time, and we’re much closer to travel to for people here compared to people in the UK.
Every year now, at the end of January, you guys know that we’re coming there, and we always bring a top-notch show too. Every single year we’ve been there, the shows have gotten bigger and better, so I think it’s the anticipation of us coming back there.”
