Source: Miami Herald
A quiet confidence, Bobby Roode settles into an easy chair — calm, cool and collective — thinking before he speaks and displaying a humble side contradictory to his in-ring person in TNA.
He’s just got a look you can’t teach and a skill he’s learned well.
A former correction officer in training, Roode opted for another form of training which eventually made him one of the rising stars in TNA. He set himself apart from his former stablemates in Team Canada to reach new heights on his own as a bad guy.
”As a kid, I watched wrestling,” he said, “and just the aura of it, the entertainment value, the stars I used to watch on TV like Hulk Hogan and Macho Man.
“I always wanted to be one of those characters. I always wanted to be on TV. I always believed I could do it. I was a fan, jumping off the couch, wrestling with my buddies. It was something I really wanted to try.”
Roode thanks WWE star Val Venis for initially showing him the ropes of the business.
”I was good friends with him. We lived in the same hometown [Peterborough, Ontario, Canada],” Roode said. “I started going around with him, and he was teaching me little things, and then he moved onto WWE.”
Ontario’s Shane Sewell, formerly Glamour Boy Shane in Puerto Rico and a current TNA referee, picked up the slack.
”One of my good friends, I owe him a lot,” Roode said, “because he really helped me a lot.”
After training two to three months with Sewell, Roode debuted in Canada in 1998. He wrestled the circuit in Canada and Puerto Rico. In 2002, he attended a WWE camp.
”I became close with [WWE’s] Tom Prichard,” he said. “We hit it off, and he taught me a lot at the camp. I also learned from watching wrestlers and studying tapes.”
A Canadian, born and raised, Roode took quickly to Canada’s No. 1 love – hockey. At Kenner Collegiate Vocational Institute in Peterborough, he scored the winning goal in overtime in the state finals.
Even with the successes, Roode realized his dream of playing in the NHL was only a dream. At age 19, he switched gears. He always had an urge to wrestle. He trained while attending community college in Canada to become a corrections officer.
”I started going to school and wrestling training at the same time,” he said. “I was so focused on wrestling that I had to stop the schooling. I don’t know if I would have continued with corrections. I really wasn’t into it, but I would have probably gone into some line of security work, if I didn’t wrestle.”
Roode is secure in his current job, training hard and enjoying the competition in the ring.
”I’ve been wrestling for so long, and it’s a passion for me,” he said. “I really can’t picture myself doing something else.”
Roode explained his new dream to his family.
”My family was supportive since day one,” he said. “My sister and day came to my first show in front of about 300 people. I don’t think I got paid for it. We drove 3 ½ hours to do the show in Wellington [Ontario]. It was fun. I wrestled Pete Rock for the title.”
Roode’s big break occurred by competing in the Super 8 Tournament for top indie talent under the direction of Jim Kettner of the East Coast Wrestling Association in Delaware. That led to a WWE Camp invite.
Roode paid his dues.
In 2004, he got the call.
”It was an unexpected phone call I got from Scott D’Amore to come into TNA,” Roode said. “I was excited. I really was. He asked me to be a part of Team Canada in the X-Cup. We wrestled Team Japan and Team Mexico and Team USA.”
Through D’Amore’s initial scouting, Roode entered and impressed the right people at the right time in TNA.
”I actually stayed in Nashville at the Super 8 hotel for two, three weeks and did three [Wednesday] pay-per-views,” he said. “They sent me home with a contract, and the rest is history.”
• Advice for anyone interested in becoming a pro wrestler, Roode said: “Have a good attitude, be patient, have open ears and be willing to learn. It’s a long road.
“A lot of guys, unfortunately, don’t get to a certain level. You really have to want it. You really have to go out and travel and do the six and seven hour drives, not get paid and be broke and live a certain lifestyle that doesn’t fit everybody. You have to be willing to work hard and accept the bumps along the road.”
It’s a tough road, and the percentages of making it at a high level are very low.
• TNA will be in New York from Feb. 21-23; Orlando for iMPACT! tapings on Feb. 25 and 26; and Norfolk, Va. for the Destination X pay-per-view on March 9.
• TNA’s Lockdown pay-per-view is Sunday, April 13 at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass. Each match is in a cage. Tickets go on sale Friday, Feb. 29 via Ticketmaster online, by phone and at the arena box office.
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