Bobby Roode: A Surprisingly Good Fit On WWE Raw

It’s easy for WWE superstars to get lost in the shuffle on Monday Night Raw. Performers like Seth Rollins and Finn Balor would be part of the main-event scene on SmackDown Live but are propping up the mid-card for the red brand. They are putting on fantastic and entertaining matches and are a major reason why a lot of hardcore fans haven’t tuned out, but neither performer seems primed for a push into the Universal Title picture.

As such, landing on Monday nights during the superstar shakeup can be the kiss of death for a certain caliber of star. That doesn’t appear to be the case for Bobby Roode, however.

Bobby Roode is officially on #RAW and feels like a bigger deal in one night than the whole time he spent on SmackDown. pic.twitter.com/JLWY7IMVp6

— Colt – Wrestling Coverage (@WWEColt) April 17, 2018

On SmackDown, he struggled to get over due to the lack of compelling competition at the mid-card level. No one’s going to get over in feuds with a disengaged Randy Orton in 2018 and there’s a good chance that not even Kenny Omega could milk an entertaining match out of Jinder Mahal, whose entire schtick is to be slow and boring in the ring.

Adding Roode into the mix for the United States title along with those two did him absolutely no favors. That program was simply a vehicle to get Orton his grand slam and was centered around a made up social media ranking list.

Is there any performer in the WWE who could have made a feud over what amounted to a Bleacher Report listicle work? If there is, Orton and Mahal aren’t among them. Put another way: Roode’s run on SmackDown Live failed to utilize his talent, both in the ring and on the microphone.

He tried, and the crowd was aching to cheer for him. But asking them to get behind the Glorious One because of a months-long fight over a fake list was asking too much.

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Roode landed on Raw during the Superstar Shakeup, though, and he finds himself in a much better spot than he was in just a few weeks ago. Sure, he lost his first match to Elias, but it was easily the most entertaining bout the former TNA/Impact standout has had his making his main roster debut back in August.

It showed that Roode can absolutely work as a mid-card draw while involved in feuds with others who are actually drawing a reaction from crowds…besides going to the bathroom during their matches.

Fun Fact: Jinder Mahal’s entrance gives you enough time to use the bathroom *and* snag another beer from the fridge.

Maybe it seems like we’re being a bit hard on Orton and Mahal, but the middle segments of SmackDown have been lacking in quality for a while now. Getting Roode out of that mix and — presumably — placing him in a program with Elias finally gives him a chance to shine.

It’s 100 percent speculation on our part, but there could be a good ol’ fashioned double turn waiting somewhere down the line should Elias and Roode continue to feud. The former has been getting face reactions over the last several weeks and has quickly established himself as one of the most entertaining acts on Raw… despite technically being a heel who trash-talks every city he wrestles in.

As Brandon Stroud wrote for Uproxx.com:

“This week’s first match is the battle between a guy who desperately needs to be heel (Bobby Roode) and a guy so good at being a heel it’s bordering on turning him face (Elias).”

Elias believes his own BS too much to not continue to grow as a superstar. Then there is Roode, who has worked hard to get over as a face but is a natural heel. His entire run in NXT was as a “bad guy” who’s full of himself, and a return to that kind of character could be exactly what he needs to reach that next level.

Because this just isn’t working for him.

Can you imagine NXT or TNA/Impact Roode cutting a backstage segment like that? No way, no how.

Roode turns 41 next month, so it’s not like he’s got an endless number of feuds ahead of him. Getting him into intriguing feuds now is a must is the WWE wants to capitalize on one of the strongest characters in the company. He’s never going to blow anyone away with his in-ring work, but he’s solid enough — as we saw on Monday — to get the crowd going when he’s paired up with the right opponent.

Getting him into a match with Elias was a slick call by creative, and we hope that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these two superstars in the squared circle.

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