Will the real Bobby Roode please stand up?

If there is anyone who needs a makeover or a character shift in WWE, it might be the former TNA World Champion, NXT Champion and United States Champion. Roode, who was beloved in NXT before his callup to the main roster because of his sick entrance music and his technical skills in the ring, would be much better off as a heel than the babyface he portrays on Monday Night Raw.

If we are talking in terms of reality (just between you and me), Roode should never have left SmackDown Live during the Superstar Shakeup and should have turned heel once Jinder Mahal jumped brands to Monday night.

Roode, who has been compared to Arn Anderson for his in-ring technique, his solid skills on the mic and the way he carries himself on camera, deserves a better fate than he is getting. While it isn’t a possibility now, another few matches with Randy Orton (who is still out with a knee injury) would have solidified Roode as the villain he should be.

And if we are still talking in terms of reality (just between you and me), I would love to see him back in a program with James Storm to rebrand Beer Money. Reunited and it feels so go. I’m not the only one who has been unimpressed with Roode so far in his run with the main roster. Vince McMahon allegedly has also expressed his feelings about the Canadian star since coming aboard WWE’s circus.

Per wrestlingrumors.net’s Will McCormick, “According to a rumor from DirtySheets, Vince McMahon was unimpressed during his time on SmackDown Live. During his feud with Dolph Ziggler, The Boss compared the crowd response to his entrance to The Show Off’s. That was enough for McMahon to make up his mind about him and Roode has yet to change Vince’s mind about him.”

We all knew when WWE decided to make its major changes in roster talent between Raw and SmackDown live, there would be superstars who were lost in the shuffle. Both Bobby Roode and Sasha Banks may have been the two superstars affected most by changes to the red and blue roster. Both have spots in the Money in the Bank Ladder Matches, but don’t figure to be anything more than window dressing.

If this were another decade or another promotion, Bobby Roode would be a Horseman and darn good one. A run with a stable or possible in a program with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn as Team Canada may also work, should WWE want to travel that route. He is a natural heel like Charlotte Flair and Orton – two performers who are waiting for their chance to flip the script once more.

When WWE finally makes the move and turns Roode, let’s hope it is with the ruthlessness shown by Jinder Mahal or Triple H. Find him an opponent who will help him shine. Seth Rollins would work. Elias as a babyface would work. Maybe Dean Ambrose upon his return to the ring.

The point is, Roode is too solid a performer to be catch up in WWE’s machine – one that is doing him no favors and has set him up for failure since he was promoted to the main roster late last year.