WWE SmackDown 5 Takeaways: US Championship Becomes Glorious

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1. Bobby Roode Finally Gets Main Roster Breakthrough

The Glorious Bobby Roode has been in the pro wrestling business for many years and has carved out a great legacy.  One major accomplishment, however, alluded Roode throughout his career and that accomplishment was WWE success.

After reaching NXT, Roode would have tremendous success before making a move up to the main roster in 2017 on the SmackDown brand.  And since that time, he hasn’t necessarily had a great run.  A lack of direction has haunted Roode for the past several months, but since he joined the United States Championship picture, his direction has become clearer.

The pieces were in place last night following a Jinder Mahal win over Xavier Woods and a Roode win over Mojo Rawley for the two most likely candidates to battle for the U.S. Championship.  It turned out to be a week ahead of schedule, but Mahal vs. Roode main evented last night’s show with the U.S. Championship on the line.

Both superstars improved on their earlier matches and wound up having a pretty good battle.  What really helped the match was the unknown factor of who would win because both superstars made sense to win the gold.  However, after a Glorious DDT, Roode pinned Mahal to win the U.S. Championship and his first main roster championship.

Next: WWE Raw 5 Takeaways From Jan. 15 Show

It took a while, but The Glorious One appears to have finally gotten his WWE main roster breakthrough as the new U.S. Champion.