Bobby Roode’s Glorious Marathon to WWE Money in the Bank
By Tom Clark
Bobby Roode is among the eight Superstars booked in the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match on Sunday, June 17. If Roode wins the match, then he becomes Mister Money in the Bank. That means he has a shot at the Universal Championship but more importantly it means he has a shot at the top tier of Monday Night Raw.
There is no denying that Roode has his fans. The Glorious one has built his following from the ground up and many of those following him knew him from his days in Impact Wrestling. That Bobby Roode was hungry, he was determined and he was fully confident in his abilities. That is the same Bobby Roode that fans now see in WWE.
But his booking in this match seems to be something of a throwaway in terms of winning and losing. While anything is possible, Roode is not the favorite to win the match and the guaranteed title shot. He’s very good and he’s a solid talent. But will he be something more than that?
It’s a tough question to answer considering the talent pool he’s currently swimming in. Roode is surrounded by a mix of veterans and younger stars, many of whom are capable of delivering an instant classic every time they step into the ring.
Bobby is a big fish in an even bigger pond and that may not necessarily be a bad thing. He’s flying under the radar on many occasions, which means he can sneak in when fans least expect it and get a win. However is that what could happen on June 17?
Roode always delivers in the ring and there’s no question that he has a tremendous upside. But utilizing him as a mid to upper card star is one thing. Imagining him as the top titleholder is something else altogether. So while he may very well be able to work the ladder match at MITB and convincingly get the victory, this bout may actually be just an audition for him.
Assuming that he does well in the match, Roode may then be on track to doing more things in WWE. He was a world champion outside of WWE so he knows all about carrying the torch for a company. Bobby has worked hard his whole career to reach this point and if he was trusted to become the man, he would surely give maximum effort.
But his growth in WWE thus far has been slow and steady. Roode is a veteran of course so he surely understands that this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. To win the race, he must keep giving and pushing himself to give more.
Roode is the kind of no-nonsense old school talent that surely does not want anything handed to him. He wants to work for every opportunity he gets and he does just that. So while seven other men around him are working for their own individual goals and hopefully to make the match look good, Bobby Roode could very well be looking toward the future.
Of course one negative point that may become a factor for him later is his current home. Monday Night Raw is the flagship of WWE. It’s the place where the company’s dominance in the pro wrestling world began. To make it onto Raw means to make it in the business. That fact is surely not lost on Roode.
But Raw is also the home to the Universal champion, Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is the marquee star in WWE. He comes and goes as the company sees fit and he wins much more than he ever loses. Whenever he has lost, he always comes back and wins in the end. Brock is a machine because WWE books him that way and there’s no reason to believe that will change any time soon.
Roode may be on top of his game. He may have the potential to become a bigger star in Vince McMahon’s company. But his potential to succeed likely depends on what happens with Brock Lesnar in the coming months. If Lesnar were to leave sometime during 2018, he will probably drop the belt before he goes. If that is true, then Bobby Roode is on an even playing field.
Of course if that does not happen, then Bobby is right back where he is now. But while some of the blame for a Roode loss at MITB lies with Brock’s booking, there is something else that plays a role. Bobby Roode is indeed doing a fine job but he could be doing a much better job as a heel.
This is where Bobby’s strength lives. Roode is such a natural heel and does a great job of generating heat whenever he’s on camera. His smugness and cockiness set him apart from everyone else on the roster. At his best, he’s Tully Blanchard wearing Ric Flair‘s clothes. At his worst, he’s a guy struggling to connect because he’s in the wrong spot.
That’s where Bobby Roode is right now. He does have great potential to do something more and to become more but that is likely not going to happen as long as he’s a babyface. There is a world in which Roode and Lesnar can coexist on the same program even as Bobby plots and schemes to take the title away from The Beast Incarnate. Unless he’s traded back to SmackDown Live at some point, Roode needs a logical course of action on the red brand.
But even though it appears as if Roode needs too many tweaks and that prevents him from wining Money in the Bank, the truth is anything’s possible. Bobby Roode may be the dark horse that wins the briefcase on June 17 and he could go on to shock the world when he eventually cashes in. Is Roode on his way to superstardom in WWE? It could be that fans feel that outcome is nothing short of glorious.