Booby Roode Speaks On Why He Left TNA, His Next Career Move And More
Bobby Roode and Eric Young were granted their release from TNA Wrestling last Saturday night (03/19) after the latest set of TNA TV tapings, which was reported here yesterday. Not long after leaving the company, Bobby spoke with his hometown news outlet, The Peterborough Examiner to explain why after over 12 years, it was time to leave TNA Wrestling. Below are some highlights from the interview:
Why he left TNA now:
“It felt like it was the right time. After almost 13 years in a wrestling company I felt like there was nothing really left for me to do there. I wanted to mutually part ways. I have nothing negative to say about TNA Wrestling. They treated me very, very well. It was just a matter of me being in a part of my life where I’m not sure TNA was the right fit for me anymore. The brand has been stale for the last little while and the growth wasn’t there as it was in the early years.”
His contract status:
“I’m a free agent so I can do anything I want as far as wrestling goes.”
Is he already looking at the next step of his career:
“I haven’t really dug deep into anything, yet. There have been a few phone calls put out to me and I’ve talked to a lot of friends in the business so we’ll see what happens. I’m certainly not in any rush. One thing I have learned in this business is that timing is everything. Thirteen years ago, I was struggling to make it in the wrestling business and all of a sudden I got a phone call to come and replace a guy on a TNA pay-per-view. Here I am 12 years later a five-time tag team champion and two-time world heavyweight champion. I would never have thought that.”
On being surprised at the reaction to his decision:
“There has been an outpouring of support through social media I really didn’t expect. TNA put out a really nice press release (Saturday) night. It’s been pretty overwhelming the support I’ve got from a lot of fans all over the world and a lot of colleagues.”
Ski’s Take – Back when TNA was relevant (to me anyway), a major drawing point was the team of Bobby Roode and James Storm aka Beer Money. The two not only had great in-ring chemistry but you could see on screen that they were great friends too. They had great matches with Team 3D, The Motor City Machine Guns, LAX and many more. Every match, every promo, I sat up and was treated to an exciting and entertaining time.
With a short lived renaissance with the re-formation of Beer Money, Roode was once again relevant and capturing peoples attention. Many were shocked with the news that EY and himself had left the company, but I wasn’t. The spotlight had been well and truly been shining on Bobby Roode in the last few months, and I was quietly thinking that maybe he was putting himself in the shop window for NXT (where his ex-tag partner Austin Aries currently makes a living), ROH and even NJPW.
Will he end up in any of the destinations I put forward? Who knows? Bobby himself has said he doesn’t know and is taking time out to recharge and spend time with his family. What I do know is that wherever he does go, that company will be very lucky to have him.