Being in the WWE is special; NXT was a great experience: being the champion and the face of the company was amazing.
— Bobby Roode
I got into this business for one reason, and I stayed in this business for one reason: To be the World Heavyweight Champion. I think if you are in professional wrestling, and you don't have that dream or aspire to be the best and carry that World Heavyweight Championship, then you are in the wrong business.
Over time, the business itself has evolved and changed almost seemingly every year. I've been able to adjust and change my style and adapt to whoever I'm in the ring with.
If there was a dream match I could do, it would definitely be in a match against Curt Hennig. I think, growing watching him, I have hours and hours and hours of footage of 'Mr. Perfect' Curt Hennig and just studied his stuff for years.
For the Robert Roode character, wrestling is kind of secondary, and money is his main priority.
I know this is my hometown of Toronto, but I'm going to treat 'TakeOver: Toronto' like it's another night at the office. I'm going to prove why I am one of the best in the world.
The only reason why I'm on Twitter is because Dixie Carter made me. I'll go on Twitter every now and again and just say some things. Normally, it's just to hype wrestling and to hype what's coming on TV and whatnot.
Everybody knows I'm Canadian, and I'm proud of that. I'll never deny that fact that I'm Canadian.
At the end of the day, wrestling is one big, happy, dysfunctional family.
I'm not a political guy; I really don't care a lot about politics. I never have and probably never will.
I just like being me, and whether the people love me or hate me, that's their own prerogative.
Wherever my career takes me, whether it be 'moving up to the main roster' or staying in NXT doing what I'm doing now, I'm quite content having my passion back for this business and doing what I love to do.
To this day, I continuously get social media people tweeting doing 'Glorious Bombs' from all over the world. You have little kids doing them. You have moms doing them who have no idea what they're doing, but they're doing it. It's become one of those entertaining things.
I enjoyed 12-plus years in TNA, but in the end, I didn't like being there doing what I was doing. That was my issue. I needed to get away.
I think timing is everything. I have no regrets in my career. I've been able to make a name for myself and build my own brand.
At the end of the day, when I hang up my boots for the last time, I hope I have the respect from the other wrestlers and fans alike who enjoyed my matches and thought that I was one of the best.
When you go live, anything can happen. It excites me because it means I have to be on. When the camera's on, whatever happens happens.
As far as memories go, I was around for the very first WrestleMania. I was a young kid upstairs at my uncle's restaurant in a change room or staff room watching it, I think, illegally, on a black and white television.
With social media, you take the good and the bad of it. You have to make the most of the opportunities. You can use social media to your benefit to expand your character and gets eyes on you and what you're doing.
Triple H is very hands-on and approachable. My whole 'Glorious' song is because of Triple H. Before I even signed my contract, we discussed what I wanted to do and what he felt like I could do. It's been a real joy working for him.
Austin Aries is a guy that has been the longest-reigning 'X Division' champion, has proven himself all over the world before he even got to TNA, and is well-respected in the industry, so I think he's a guy to look out for and I look forward to working with.
Austin Aries, A.J. Styles, and Samoa Joe are all super talented, and all three of them have earned everything they've gotten.
I don't follow the UFC as closely as some of my peers do. Obviously, Conor McGregor is a super talented guy. He is the best at what he does; he's a huge personality.
To me, I think I've always carried that type of WWE style with me throughout my career, even before I got here, so the transition hasn't been that difficult. I've been enjoying the transition, to be honest with you, because in my opinion, this business evolves all the time, and it changes all the time.
There are a lot of guys in those SmackDown and Raw locker rooms that, given the opportunity, I'd love to have matches with, tell stories with, and do stuff with.
Obviously, I was fortunate enough in my first WWE experience was to be at WrestleMania in Dallas. That itself was pretty incredible, just to meet everybody and to get familiar with the NXT guys.
When I started here, I didn't really have prior plans. I just wanted to be part of WWE, to get the opportunity to show what I can do.
The one thing I've learned in sports entertainment is that nothing is for certain, and you never say never.
I was a huge fan of Rick Rude and Arn Anderson. There's many guys, many performers in the past who turned me into the sports entertainer I am today.
I study a lot of tapes. I have a passion for the business, and I've always wanted to be the best ever since I got in the business. I have a love for this sport and just want to be the best in it.
I think Impact Wrestling can stand on its own without Ric Flair, but it's always nice to have a guy like that around.
I'm a lot more focused on character development and showing more of my character's emotions and persona inside the ring rather than just going move after move after move.
We're social media-driven now, the social media team is huge in WWE. It really helps expand our brand.
I was in TNA for over a dozen years. I had a great run there - I had a great career - but obviously, WWE has always been the be-all, end-all of sports entertainment. Until you get there and experience it on a personal level, you just don't know.
People will come up to me at live events or wherever and have me sign Canadian flags or the old 'Team Canada' shirt and have me talk about those days back in 'Team Canada,' so it's a moment that I'm proud of.
The more wrestling companies that are out there, the more chance of people being able to support their families and live their dreams.
There's always new things to learn and new ways to do things. My eyes and my ears are always open, and I'm always looking for advice.
That's the beautiful thing about the WWE Universe: everybody has an opinion, and everybody can cheer and boo.
The WWE is the be-all and end-all of sports entertainment. They just do things right.
I've always been about learning. No matter how long I've been in the business or where I've been in a company, I've always wanted to continue to learn.
I obviously wanted to keep wrestling and stay in the business. The opportunity came up with WWE, and it's been an incredible experience.
