GLORIOUS! Five Fast Facts About Bobby Roode

GLORIOUS!

Need I say more? Here are five fast facts about the glorious Bobby Roode.

5. His First Ring Name Was “Total” Lee Awesome

There are bad puns, and then there are horrible puns. Bobby Roode’s first ring name falls into the latter category.

When he first started wrestling, Roode went by the awful name “Total” Lee Awesome. Given that Robert Roode is actually his legitimate name, it’s a mystery as to why he decided to wrestle under a moniker as cringe-worthy as “Total” Lee Awesome. Thank goodness he decided to switch to Bobby Roode.

4. He Was Trained By Val Venis

Believe it or not, Roode began his wrestling training under Val Venis – and it was completely by happenstance. According to Roode, he met Venis at his local gym in Ontario, Canada not long after Venis signed with WWE. Venis trained Roode free of charge in a ring set up in Venis’s backyard. Not quite the Hart Dungeon, but an interesting start in the business nonetheless.

3. He Had Tons of WWE Tryouts

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. That was Roode’s motto early on in his career, as he received literally dozens of tryout matches with WWE.

Between 1998 and 2004, Roode – or “Bobby Rude,” as he was billed then – fought numerous dark matches prior to Raw and SmackDown tapings as well as squash matches on Velocity and Heat against tons of opponents, including Sean O’Haire, Orlando Jordan, Matt Hardy, Al Snow, and Billy Kidman.

2. He’s The Longest Reigning TNA Champion

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While WWE didn’t work out for Roode in the beginning, he found great success in WWE’s biggest rival at the time, TNA. Roode spent 12 years in TNA, becoming a six-time TNA World Tag Team Champion and two-time NWA World Tag Team Champion. He’s also a two-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion and the longest-reigning TNA Champion to date, having held the title for 256 days from October 2011 to July 2012.

1. WWE Officials Told Him To Sign With TNA

Speaking of TNA, Roode owes his entire career there to WWE. Specifically, he owes it to John Laurinaitis.

After Roode’s final tryout match with WWE – a losing effort against Matt Hardy on Velocity – Scott D’Amore informed Roode that there was a contract offer on the table for him from TNA. Roode then told Laurinaitis about the offer, and Johnny Ace advised him to take it, noting that there wasn’t anything for him on the main roster and he was too good for developmental. The rest is history.

Did you learn anything GLORIOUS about Bobby Roode that you didn’t know before? Share your thoughts and comments below!