Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode took part in a conference call to promote the 10: The Reunion pay-per-view event earlier this month.
On his first match in TNA: My very first night working for the company was a very interesting night. It was before I came in in 2004 with Team Canada. I had a dark match that aired on Xplosion against Konnan – I think it was late 2003. At that time, it felt like TNA wasn’t the place for me. It was just a weird feeling. It was very different to what it is now, and what it was when I came back with Team Canada. Obviously it was a learning experience that night. When I got a call to come back I was a little leery on it but I’m glad I did, it was the best move I’ve ever made.
On the concept of the Bound For Glory Series: It’s definitely different than any other wrestling tournament that I’ve ever known. That’s what makes it original and what makes it interesting. It’s a points system, so it’s kind of like a baseball season or a hockey season or a football season where if it was a team aspect you’d go out there and win points and try and get as high in the rankings as you can as it gets close to the end of the season. That’s the name of the game in the Bound For Glory Series. Obviously you can get seven points for a pinfall, 10 points for a submission, the points vary, so it keeps people on their toes and makes it interesting.
On TNA’s reduced pay-per-view schedule: If you remember back in the day, the Clash of the Champions, you would look forward to those free television shows. I think the last couple of weeks with Destination X, TNA gave the wrestling fans a little taste of that. Cutting back to the four pay-per-views, it gives storylines, it gives matches a bigger feel to them. It lets stories develop over TV a little better; we’re not rushing anything, and we make the four pay-per-views a year a really big deal. I’m all for it and I think it was a great move.
On him vs. James Storm not being the Bound For Glory 2012 main event: We went out there at Bound For Glory – we still faced each other, and we had a hell of a match. It’s a match a lot of people still talk about and I still remember and kinda still wake up in the morning and feel every day. We went out there and we worked just as hard … as we would have done if it was for the world heavyweight title. It would have been a lot sweeter, I think, if it was for the title.
On the state of tag team wrestling: When I was a kid I grew up big fans of The Hart Foundation, being from Canada, and The British Bulldogs and that rivalry, The Road Warriors and teams like that… there was such a great following for tag teams back in the 80s and early 90s. Now it’s subsided a bit and it’s kind of a lost art-form as far as I’m concerned. I’m not really sure what the reason is for it, I think there’s definitely a place for tag team wrestling in the business today and I’d like to see it come back but it’s on a bit of a down slope.
On who he still wants to work with: One of the guys is Samoa Joe. Joe and I have wrestled off and on over the last nine years at TNA but nothing really concrete; I think he and I could produce some great matches. Another guy would be Kurt Angle. Honestly, the only match I’ve really had with Kurt was the Bound For Glory match where I challenged him for the world title and he beat me, so I’d love to do something major with Kurt. I think again we would have great matches and be able to tell great stories and have some entertaining television with him and I.
On TNA’s recent roster cuts: Some of the cuts were kind of unexpected but I think a lot of the guys now… it makes us want to work harder. When this type of stuff happens in our business it makes us want to step up and show the powers that be we belong there and that we deserve a job there and that we are a big thing to the company. We don’t want to make them think we can be let go at any time or be replaced.
On TNA’s next breakout star: There are so many guys in our locker room that are hungry; everybody wants to be the World Heavyweight Champion. Right now, you have the BroMans, a tag team with Jesse Godderz and Robbie E. I’ve always been a fan of Robbie E, as quirky and as dorky as he is. I think that he could be a money guy in a main event spot given the opportunity, so we’ll see what happens.
