ironworks
06-23-2012, 03:29 PM
Bobby Roode Talks about Responsibilities, Fans Rediscovering TNA 0 0Email0By MarcMiddleton 6/22/2012
The Baltimore Sun has an interview with Bobby Roode, here are some highlights.
Breaking away from 'Team Canada' and if it was difficult that persona: "It was at first, but I tried my best to try and shake that stench of 'Team Canada' off me I guess in a way. But everybody knows I'm Canadian, and I'm proud of that. I'll never deny that fact that I'm Canadian. Those 'Team Canada' days were awesome. They got me where I'm at today, literally, and I had great times with all those guys and some good memories. But when I broke away from 'Team Canada,' they did the thing with the 'Hottest Free Agent.' They brought Bobby Heenan in and Carl Parker in and Sensational Sherri in, and this whole managers were vying for me and trying to buy me up and offer me their services, and that was a lot of fun. So in a way, I guess the company tried to shake off that Canada smell as well. But I went off with Traci Brooks as my manager, I started wearing the robe and started wearing different colors, trying to not let people think that I was the 'Team Canada' guy. Even today people know that I'm Canadian. 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."
Responsibilities as the TNA champion: "There's a lot of other responsibilities you know, other than going out and performing every night on television or pay-per-view. It's the travel. I mean, literally, I've been doing media appearances off and on for the last seven months, traveling overseas, promoting our upcoming tour in January. I got an opportunity to go to L.A. and do red carpet stuff for 'Spike TV' and 'MTV,' so a lot of cool things and a lot of different things, but there's a lot of responsibilities. But I knew getting into it that was going to be asked of me. Kurt Angle was that guy for a couple of years when he first got to the company and had to do all this stuff. He pulled me to the side and told me what to expect. He wasn't far off. It's been a busy time, but it's been a lot of fun and a great learning experience as well."
If fans who were turned off by the product are rediscovering it: "Absolutely. I think our product is getting better. I think the talent itself has always been there. I think our talent is second to none anywhere in the world. But I think as a machine, you know, all the moving parts have to work together in order for it to be successful and I think we've turned that corner and we've got some momentum now coming off a great pay-per-view at Slamiversary. Every match from the top to the bottom of that card was great and our TV show is getting better and better and better. We've got some different things, things that people don't generally see on a wrestling show; some reality stuff, some stuff that kind of hits home, and some intriguing story lines and some great wrestling matches and putting the importance back on what should be important -- and that's the world title. The 'Bound for Glory Series' is doing that again this year with the 12 guys competing for an opportunity to go to 'Bound for Glory' for the world title, so I think we're doing a lot of good things. And of course, being live every Thursday, you know, when you're live anything can happen. And I think with today's social media, when it was taped, I think people just went online and read whatever they wanted to know and tuned out or maybe tuned in at a certain time. Now with live TV, I think that we're forcing the fans to watch and we're creating new fans."
The Baltimore Sun has an interview with Bobby Roode, here are some highlights.
Breaking away from 'Team Canada' and if it was difficult that persona: "It was at first, but I tried my best to try and shake that stench of 'Team Canada' off me I guess in a way. But everybody knows I'm Canadian, and I'm proud of that. I'll never deny that fact that I'm Canadian. Those 'Team Canada' days were awesome. They got me where I'm at today, literally, and I had great times with all those guys and some good memories. But when I broke away from 'Team Canada,' they did the thing with the 'Hottest Free Agent.' They brought Bobby Heenan in and Carl Parker in and Sensational Sherri in, and this whole managers were vying for me and trying to buy me up and offer me their services, and that was a lot of fun. So in a way, I guess the company tried to shake off that Canada smell as well. But I went off with Traci Brooks as my manager, I started wearing the robe and started wearing different colors, trying to not let people think that I was the 'Team Canada' guy. Even today people know that I'm Canadian. 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."
Responsibilities as the TNA champion: "There's a lot of other responsibilities you know, other than going out and performing every night on television or pay-per-view. It's the travel. I mean, literally, I've been doing media appearances off and on for the last seven months, traveling overseas, promoting our upcoming tour in January. I got an opportunity to go to L.A. and do red carpet stuff for 'Spike TV' and 'MTV,' so a lot of cool things and a lot of different things, but there's a lot of responsibilities. But I knew getting into it that was going to be asked of me. Kurt Angle was that guy for a couple of years when he first got to the company and had to do all this stuff. He pulled me to the side and told me what to expect. He wasn't far off. It's been a busy time, but it's been a lot of fun and a great learning experience as well."
If fans who were turned off by the product are rediscovering it: "Absolutely. I think our product is getting better. I think the talent itself has always been there. I think our talent is second to none anywhere in the world. But I think as a machine, you know, all the moving parts have to work together in order for it to be successful and I think we've turned that corner and we've got some momentum now coming off a great pay-per-view at Slamiversary. Every match from the top to the bottom of that card was great and our TV show is getting better and better and better. We've got some different things, things that people don't generally see on a wrestling show; some reality stuff, some stuff that kind of hits home, and some intriguing story lines and some great wrestling matches and putting the importance back on what should be important -- and that's the world title. The 'Bound for Glory Series' is doing that again this year with the 12 guys competing for an opportunity to go to 'Bound for Glory' for the world title, so I think we're doing a lot of good things. And of course, being live every Thursday, you know, when you're live anything can happen. And I think with today's social media, when it was taped, I think people just went online and read whatever they wanted to know and tuned out or maybe tuned in at a certain time. Now with live TV, I think that we're forcing the fans to watch and we're creating new fans."