Bobby Roode

Roode was trained in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario by fellow Ontarians Shane Sewell and Sean Morley. He completed his training after a year and wrestled his debut match in June 1998 as "Total" Lee Awesome against Pete Rock. He then went on to work for various Canadian independent promotions, as well as making appearances for the Puerto Rican promotion, World Wrestling Council (WWC). He also went on to work a series of dark matches for World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) between 1998 and 2004 before he was signed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).

Roode began working for Real Action Wrestling in 2001, where he formed a villainous stable known as The Cardinal Sinners along with Kingman and Mike Hughes as well as part-time members Wildman Gary Williams and The Acadian Giant. Roode later rejoined them as a part of their Wrestling Reality show to be aired on The Fight Network, but he was not seen on these episodes due to contractual obligations with TNA.

In May 2004, Roode was brought into Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) by Scott D'Amore, the owner of Border City Wrestling, a Canadian independent promotion for which Roode had worked on occasion. Roode debuted in TNA as part of the Team Canada stable, and took part in the World X-Cup, which was won by Team USA. Team Canada went on to feud with 3Live Kru and America's Most Wanted. As the biggest and most powerful member of Team Canada at the time, Roode acted as the enforcer of the group, a role popularised by Arn Anderson. In early 2006, recognizing his comparisons to Anderson, he made the request that he be called "The Canadian Enforcer" from that point onward, and began coming to the ring in sequined robes reminiscent of the flashy style popularized by the Four Horsemen and Rick Rude in the late 1980s.

Roode began a feud with Dustin Rhodes in early 2005, losing to him at April's Lockdown in a best of three falls steel cage match, with the third fall a blindfold match. At Hard Justice, Roode competed in a Twenty-Man Gauntlet for the Gold which was won by Abyss. After that Roode feuded with Lance Hoyt, who he defeated at Slammiversary and at No Surrender with Team Canada, Hoyt teaming with The Naturals. At Sacrifice, Team Canada defeated America's Most Wanted and The Naturals in an Eight-man tag team match. After defeating Jeff Hardy at Unbreakable in September, Roode and the remainder of Team Canada resumed their feud with 3Live Kru. At Bound for Glory, Team Canada defeated 3Live Kru. at Genesis (2005), Team Canada lost to 3Live Kru in a 6-Sided Stick Fight with Kip James as special guest referee and at Turning Point Team Canada defeated 4Live Kru (B.G. James, Kip James, Konnan and Ron Killings) in an Eight-man tag team match.

While in TNA, Roode also wrestled for BSE Pro in Ontario, Border City Wrestling in Windsor, Ontario and at NWA Shockwave in New Jersey. On March 18, 2006, he won the NWA Shockwave Internet Championship from Josh Daniels at an NWAS/New York Wrestling Connection cross-promotional event. Eight days later on March 26, Roode won the vacant NWA Shockwave Heavyweight Championship at Disturbing the Peace 2006 in a four-way match. Roode held both titles until May 21, when he dropped the Internet title and successfully defended the Heavyweight title against Slyck Wagner Brown. Due to the restarting of the company, all of the NWA Cyberspace championships were vacated, including Roode's Heavyweight title.

On January 31 at the tapings of the February 3 episode of Impact!, Fortune turned face by attacking Immortal, when they interfered in a TNA World Heavyweight Championship match between Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy. Ric Flair, who did not take part in Fortune's turn due being out with a torn rotator cuff, returned at the February 14 tapings of the February 17 episode of Impact!, turning on Fortune and jumping to Immortal. On April 17 at Lockdown, Roode, Storm, Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, defeated Immortal representatives Ric Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray and Matt Hardy in a Lethal Lockdown match, when Roode forced Flair to submit with a Fujiwara armbar. The finish was used to write Flair off television for a month. In early May, Roode began once again using the first name Bobby. On May 15 at Sacrifice, Beer Money, Inc. successfully defended the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Immortal representatives Matt Hardy and Chris Harris, Storm's old tag team partner who had made his surprise return to TNA on the previous episode of Impact!. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode was a victim of a five-on-one beatdown at the hands of Immortal as a retribution for what he did to Flair at Lockdown. Two weeks later, Eric Bischoff attempted to strip Beer Money, Inc. of their TNA World Tag Team Championship due to Roode's injury, but was interrupted by the champions' former rival Alex Shelley (whose partner, Chris Sabin, had also become injured), who agreed to take Roode's spot in the title defense against the British Invasion at Slammiversary IX. At the pay-per-view, Storm and Shelley were successful in their title defense. Roode made his in-ring return on the June 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, in a tag team match, where he and Storm were defeated by Crimson and Matt Morgan. On July 13, Beer Money, Inc. became the longest reigning TNA World Tag Team Champions in the title's history, breaking the previous record of 184 days set by A.J. Styles and Tomko in 2007. On August 7 at Hardcore Justice, Beer Money, Inc. successfully defended the TNA World Tag Team Championship against Mexican America (Anarquia and Hernandez). Two days later, at the tapings of the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Mexican America defeated Beer Money, Inc. in a rematch, following interference from Jeff Jarrett, to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, ending Roode's and Storm's record-setting reign at 212 days.

Through TNA's working relationships with various Japanese promotions, Roode has competed in Japan numerous times, beginning in 2009 when he and Storm, as Beer Money, debuted in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), defeating Legend (Akira and Masahiro Chono). They returned to New Japan in October 2010, first defeating Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson and Giant Bernard), and then No Limit (Tetsuya Naito and Yujiro Takahashi). Storm and Roode made their debuts in the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2011, at Wrestle Kingdom V, taking part in a three-way tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, won by Bad Intentions.

With Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff taking over TNA at the beginning of 2010, Beer Money's TV time was significantly reduced. Upon their return to Impact!, Beer Money turned heel on the March 8 episode of Impact! by first volunteering to face Jeff Jarrett in a handicap match and then defeating him after a low blow and the DWI, claiming it was the only way they were going to get noticed by the new management. Roode and Storm had since acted as Bischoff's henchmen, taking on wrestlers he's had problems with, often in two-on-one situations. At Destination X Beer Money challenged Matt Morgan and Hernandez for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, but were unable to dethrone the defending champions. At Lockdown Beer Money, along with Sting and Desmond Wolfe, represented Team Flair in the annual Lethal Lockdown match, where they were defeated by Team Hogan (Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy). They then started a feud with the newly formed team of Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson, known collectively as The Enigmatic Assholes, who went on to defeat them at Slammiversary VIII. On the following episode of Impact!, Ric Flair, who had aligned himself with Roode, Storm, A.J. Styles, Desmond Wolfe and Kazarian, revived the Four Horsemen under the new name Fourtune, stating that each of them had to earn their spots in the group; Flair also compared Storm and Roode to Ole Anderson and Tully Blanchard. After the TNA World Tag Team Championship was vacated in June, Beer Money entered a four-team, two-week-long tournament to decide the opponent of The Motor City Machine Guns for the titles at Victory Road. Beer Money advanced to the title match at the pay-per-view by defeating Team 3D and Ink Inc. (Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore). At Victory Road Beer Money was defeated by the Motor City Machine Guns in the match for the World Tag Team Championship. After Victory Road Beer Money entered a Best of Five Series with the Motor City Machine Guns, contested for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Beer Money won the first two matches, a ladder match and a Street Fight, after knocking their opponents out with beer bottles. On the July 29 episode of Impact!, Ric Flair offered Roode and Storm, who were just one victory away from becoming four-time TNA World Tag Team Champions, the final two spots on Fourtune. However, Shelley and Sabin came back to win the two following matches in the Best of Five Series, a steel cage match and an Ultimate X match, to even the score to 2–2 and set up a deciding match for the August 12 episode of Impact!. On the August 12 episode of Impact! Beer Money, Inc. was defeated in a Two Out of Three Falls match and as a result lost the Best of Five Series 2–3. Later that night Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan were added to Fourtune, as the stable attacked EV 2.0, a stable consisting of former Extreme Championship Wrestling performers. In the weeks leading to Bound for Glory, the stable's name was tweaked to Fortune to represent the expansion in the number of members in the group. At Bound for Glory Roode, Storm, Styles, Kazarian and Morgan were defeated in a Lethal Lockdown match by EV 2.0 members Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Sabu and Stevie Richards. On the following episode of Impact! Fortune formed an alliance with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff's new stable, Immortal. At Turning Point Fortune defeated EV 2.0 in a ten-man tag team match and, as a result, EV 2.0's Sabu was released from TNA. The following month at Final Resolution, Roode and Storm returned to the TNA World Tag Team Championship picture by defeating Ink Inc. in a number one contender's match. On January 9, 2011, at Genesis, Beer Money, Inc. defeated the Motor City Machine Guns to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the fourth time.

On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, after it was revealed that Roode was not eligible for a rematch with Angle, new authority figure Sting gave the next title shot to James Storm, who then went on to defeat Angle to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode defeated Samoa Joe to become the number one contender to Storm's title. On the November 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode defeated Storm to win the World Heavyweight Championship, after hitting him with his own beer bottle, dissolving Beer Money, Inc. turning heel in the process. Roode and Storm had a rematch for the title the following week. As a result of a backstage attack, Storm came into the match bleeding and eventually lost, after passing out due to blood loss. After the match, Roode was challenged by his former Fortune stablemate, A.J. Styles. On November 13 at Turning Point, Roode successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Styles, pinning him while holding his tights. On December 11 at Final Resolution, Roode retained the World Heavyweight Championship, after wrestling Styles to a draw in a 30-Minute Iron Man match. Roode and Styles wrestled a sudden death overtime period on the following episode of Impact Wrestling, where Roode managed to retain his title. On January 8, 2012, at Genesis, Roode again retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship after getting himself disqualified in his title match against Jeff Hardy. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, a rematch between Roode and Hardy ended in a no contest, following interference from Bully Ray. The following episode of Impact Wrestling, both Roode and Ray interfered in a number one contender's match between Hardy and Storm, which ended the match in a no contest. On February 12 at Against All Odds, Roode defeated Hardy, Ray, and Storm in a four-way match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship after special ringside enforcer Sting accidentally knocked out Hardy with the title belt. The following episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode retained the championship against Hardy in a No Disqualification match, following interference from Kurt Angle. Roode then began feuding with TNA's General Manager Sting, which eventually led to Sting returning to the ring on March 18 at Victory Road, where Roode defeated him in a non-title No Holds Barred match. On April 15 at Lockdown, Roode defeated James Storm in a steel cage match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship after being accidentally superkicked out of the cage for the win. On May 13 at Sacrifice, Roode defeated Rob Van Dam in a ladder match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 24 episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode successfully defended the title against A.J. Styles to break Styles' record of 211 days as TNA World Heavyweight Champion the following day. Following the match, Roode was attacked by the returning Sting. The following week, Roode was defeated by Sting in a non-title lumberjack match in the first live episode of Impact Wrestling. On June 10 at Slammiversary, Roode successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a rematch against Sting, after hitting him with James Storm's beer bottle. After the match, Roode was again attacked by Sting. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode made another successful title defense, defeating Mr. Anderson by submission. On July 8 at Destination X, Roode lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Austin Aries, ending his reign at 256 days.

In an attempt to prove that Aries' victory had been a fluke, Roode faced the new World Heavyweight Champion in a non-title match on the July 19 episode of Impact Wrestling. However, the match ended in a no contest, when both competitors were attacked by a group of masked assailants, known only as the "Aces & Eights". On August 12 at Hardcore Justice, Roode unsuccessfully challenged Aries for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, with a pre-match stipulation preventing him from getting another rematch for the title as long as Aries was champion. After not being seen for several weeks, Roode returned on September 9 at No Surrender, costing James Storm his Bound for Glory Series semifinal match against Bully Ray. On the September 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Storm challenged Roode to a match as part of the Open Fight Night. The match ended in a no contest, when referee Brian Hebner was unable control the two brawling rivals. The rivalry between Roode and Storm culminated on October 14 at Bound for Glory in a Street Fight, with King Mo serving as the special guest enforcer, which was won by Storm. On November 11 at Turning Point, Roode was again defeated by Storm in a three-way number one contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship, also involving A.J. Styles; however, Roode was not pinned; had he been, he would not get another title opportunity until Bound for Glory 2013. However, on the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode defeated Storm in a rematch for the number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship. On the December 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode was revealed as the man who paid off the Aces & Eights to attack World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy at the end of the show. Three days later at Final Resolution, Roode failed in his title challenge against Hardy, after which, both men were attacked by the Aces & Eights. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Aces & Eights member Devon revealed Roode was outbidded by Austin Aries to prevent him from winning the title. The following week, Roode attacked Aries in the main event of the evening, costing him his shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Roode and Aries faced off in a number one contender's match on the next episode of Impact Wrestling. The match ended in a no contest after the two attacked referee Earl Hebner and then were, in turn attacked by Hardy. The rivalry culminated in a three-way elimination match on January 13, 2013, at Genesis, where Roode failed again to capture the World Heavyweight Championship from Hardy.

EGO went on to feud with Magnus by attacking him and costing him several matches. On the October 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, Magnus ran a gauntlet match against EGO and eliminated both Daniels and Kazarian before Roode won the match by making Magnus submit to an ankle lock. As a result of defeating Magnus, EGO held a mock Hall of Fame induction for Roode the following week, in mockery to Kurt Angle's induction, leading to Angle returning, attacking all three members of EGO in retaliation, and issuing a challenge to Roode at Bound for Glory, which Roode accepted. On October 20 at Bound for Glory, Roode defeated Kurt Angle after Angle injured himself while hitting his finisher. The two had a rematch on the October 31 episode of Impact Wrestling, where Roode won via referee stoppage after Angle suffered convulsions and post-concussive symptoms. After his two victories, Roode continued the feud by insulting Angle and brawling with him. Simultaneously, Roode entered a tournament for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship and defeated James Storm in a Florida Death Match in the first round to advance. Two weeks later, after losing in the semi-finals to Jeff Hardy in a Tables match, Roode attacked Angle during his match with Magnus, costing him and also eliminating him from the tournament. On December 19 at Final Resolution, Roode defeated Angle again in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. The rivalry culminated in a steel cage match on January 23, 2014, at Genesis, where Angle emerged victorious.

At the edition of May 9 of Impact Wrestling, Bobby Roode showed signs of a possible face turn when he showed mutual respect for TNA World Champion Eric Young, and the two shook hands on one more championship match for that same night. The match, however, did not happen because TNA Director of Operations MVP declined to make the match. At the end of the episode, MVP ended up attacking Young and declared himself the number-one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary. At the edition of May 15 of Impact Wrestling, Roode was suspended indefinitely for his confrontation with MVP. A campaign began on impactwrestling.com to lift Roode's suspension. On the edition of June 19 of Impact Wrestling, Roode returned and attacked Kenny King and saving his long-time best friend Eric Young from further injury after losing the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Lashley, and turning face in the process for the first time since 2011. On the July 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, he defeated Kenny King in a Street Fight and MVP on the July 24 episode of Impact Wrestling in a Falls Count Anywhere match. On the September 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, he defeated Eric Young to be the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. However, he was defeated by Lashley at No Surrender and failed to win the title. On the October 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, he defeated Austin Aries, Eric Young and Jeff Hardy once again to be the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On September 18, 2014, in the main event of the Impact Wrestling episode taped to air on October 28, Roode defeated Lashley to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for the second time. He successfully retained his title against MVP on the November 5 episode of Impact Wrestling. On November 15, 2014, Roode successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Tommy Dreamer at House of Hardcore VII. On January 7, 2015 on Impact Wrestling Roode lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Lashley, after interference from MVP, Kenny King, and two masked men who seconds later revealed themselves as Samoa Joe and Low Ki. Roode's best friend Eric Young came out with a steel chair to scare them away but ultimately hit Roode with the chair, costing him the match. On the January 16, 2015, episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode was defeated by Young in a No Disqualification match. On the January 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode teamed with Kurt Angle, but lost once again against Eric Young and Low Ki. However, Bobby Roode defeated Eric Young in a Six Sides of Steel match at Lockdown and once again in a Last Man Standing match on the March 13 episode of Impact Wrestling. The feud ended in a Submission match on the April 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, which Eric Young won.

Bobby Roode made his debut for House of Hardcore on November 15, 2014 as a surprise opponent for Tommy Dreamer in a successful defense of the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On March 7, 2015 at House of Hardcore VIII, Dirty Heels lost to The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) in the main event. On July 1, 2015, Roode competed in Global Force Wrestling's Global Championship tournament. Roode made it to the finals, losing to Nick Aldis. On July 18, 2015 at House of Hardcore IX, Roode defeated Pepper Parks. On November 13, 2015 at House of Hardcore 11, Roode faced Austin Aries in a losing effort. At House of Hardcore 11, Dirty Heels (Roode and Austin Aries) faced The Wolves for the TNA World Tag Team Championship but failed to win the titles. At House of Hardcore 14, Roode defeated Eric Young In the main event with Jimmy Korderas as the special guest referee.

In May, Roode reformed Dirty Heels with Austin Aries in pursuit of the vacant TNA World Tag Team Championship. They both agreed to a best of five series with The Wolves. On June 3, 2015 in the third match of the series, with The Wolves up 2–0, Aries pressured Roode to hit Eddie Edwards with a steel chair. As Roode refused, Aries distracted the referee and Roode hit Edwards with a low blow and hit him with a steel chair to win the match, thanks to the influence of Aries, turning heel in the process. They win the fourth round on the June 24 episode of Impact Wrestling, in a Full Metal Mayhem match. At Slammiversary, Roode helped Aries to beat Davey Richards for pick the stipulation for the fifth match of the best of five series. Later, he competed in the King of the Mountain match for the reactivated TNA King of the Mountain Championship, in a losing effort. Roode and Aries lost the best of five series to The Wolves for the tag titles in the fifth match on the July 1 episode of Impact Wrestling in an Iron Man match. On the July 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode lost a Tables match to Matt Hardy. On the August 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Aries was forced to face Rockstar Spud, with Aries' TNA career and Spud's "Rockstar" moniker on the line. Aries ultimately lost the match, resulting in him leaving TNA. On the August 12 episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode attacked Rockstar Spud for ending Aries' career in TNA when Spud defeated Aries the previous week.

On January 5, 2016 on TNA's debut on Pop, James Storm returned to TNA to help Bobby Roode fight off Eric Young and Bram. After Storm told Roode he wanted to "get back to having fun", Storm handed Roode a beer officially reuniting Beer Money, Inc. On the January 12, 2016, edition of Impact Wrestling, Roode lost the TNA King of the Mountain Championship to Eric Young. At TNA One Night Only, Beer Money defeated Eric Young and Bram. In a rematch at Lockdown, Beer Money defeated once again Eric Young and Bram in a Six Sides of Steel match, thus ending the feud. On February 9, 2016, Beer Money attempted to cash in their title shot against current champions the Wolves, however in their attempt to cash in, Decay (Abyss, Crazzy Steve, Rosemary) stopped them and mysteriously asked them to join their path of Decay. They eventually challenged the group to a match, but it ended in disqualification when Abyss pulled the referee out of the ring and began choking him. After the match, Crazzy Steve hit a low blow on Roode. On the March 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Beer Money successfully cashed their Feast or Fired against The Wolves and win the TNA World Tag Team Championship for the fifth time in their career. They successfully retained their titles against The BroMans on the March 22 episode of Impact Wrestling and against Decay, The BroMans and Eric Young and Bram on the April 12 episode of Impact Wrestling. Their feud against Decay culminated at Sacrifice in a Valley of Shadow match, which Decay won, winning the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On March 19, 2016, TNA announced Roode's departure from the company after 12 years.

On April 1, 2016, Roode was shown on-screen standing in the crowd at NXT TakeOver: Dallas. On June 8 at NXT TakeOver: The End, Roode appeared backstage during an interview with NXT General Manager William Regal, where he was seen walking into Regal's office, hinting that Roode was about to sign with WWE or had already done so. On June 11 during NXT's tour in the United Kingdom at Download Festival, Roode made his in-ring debut and defeated Angelo Dawkins. On August 3, Roode made his NXT television debut and quickly turned on the crowd to establish himself as a heel. The following week on NXT, Roode appeared after Andrade "Cien" Almas defeated Angelo Dawkins and informed Almas that General Manager William Regal scheduled a match between the two on August 20 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, where Roode defeated Almas. On the September 14 episode of NXT, Roode defeated No Way Jose in his Full Sail University debut. On the September 28 episode of NXT, Roode appeared after Tye Dillinger defeated Angelo Dawkins and later persuaded Dillinger to be his tag team partner for the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. On the October 12 episode of NXT, Roode and Dillinger were defeated by SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton) in the first round after Roode walked out on Dillinger during the match. Roode and Dillinger attacked each other following their matches throughout the subsequent weeks, leading to a match on November 19 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, in which Roode defeated Dillinger.

On the December 14 episode of NXT, Roode qualified for a #1 contender's fatal four-way match for the NXT Championship after defeating Oney Lorcan. On the December 21 episode of NXT, Roode defeated Andrade "Cien" Almas, Tye Dillinger and Roderick Strong in the fatal four-way match to earn the title shot against NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. On January 28, 2017 at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, Roode defeated Nakamura to win the title, becoming the oldest NXT champion in WWE history in the process. On the March 15 episode of NXT, Roode made his first successful title defense, defeating Kassius Ohno. On April 1 at NXT TakeOver: Orlando, Roode successfully defended the title against Nakamura in a rematch, giving Nakamura his first clean singles loss in his departing match from NXT. On the April 19 episode of NXT, Roode was interrupted by Hideo Itami, who attacked him with a GTS. On May 20 at NXT TakeOver: Chicago, Roode retained the NXT Championship against Itami. On the June 7 episode of NXT, Roderick Strong announced his intentions of capturing the NXT Championship and Roode came out to mock him. Sparking a rivalry, the two engaged in a backstage brawl two weeks later after Roode mocked Strong and his family. On the July 5 episode of NXT, Roode successfully defended the NXT Championship against Strong. On the July 19 episode of NXT, Drew McIntyre defeated Killian Dain, earning the right to challenge Roode for the NXT Championship. On the August 2 episode of NXT, Strong attempted to attack Roode during a backstage interview, in which Roode claimed to be a "better man" than Strong. On the August 16 episode of NXT, Roode attacked both McIntyre and Strong during their main event to end the show. On August 19 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, Roode lost the NXT Championship to McIntyre, giving Roode his first singles loss in NXT. On the August 30 episode of NXT, Roode lost to Strong in his last televised NXT match. Roode wrestled his NXT farewell match at a NXT live event in Toronto on September 9, when he defeated Velveteen Dream.

On January 3, 2018, Roode was announced to team with SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair (dubbed The Robe Warriors) in the Mixed Match Challenge tournament. After Ziggler vacated the United States Championship on the December 19 episode of SmackDown Live, an eight-man tournament was set up to crown a new champion. Roode defeated Baron Corbin in the first round and Mojo Rawley in the semi-finals. On the January 16 episode of SmackDown Live, Roode defeated Jinder Mahal in the final to win his first championship since joining the main roster. Roode would defend the title for 54 days, retaining against Rawley during the Royal Rumble kick-off show during an open challenge and Rusev on the February 6 episode of SmackDown Live, until he lost it against Randy Orton at Fastlane, causing Roode to attack Orton out of frustration after saving him from Mahal. Roode tried to regain the title at WrestleMania 34 in a fatal 4-way match against Orton, Mahal and Rusev, which was won by Mahal. During this time, in the Mixed Match Challenge, Flair (who had to undergo a minor teeth surgery) was replaced by Becky Lynch via fan-vote on social media, and Roode and Lynch defeated Finn Bálor and Sasha Banks. Flair returned for the finals of the Mixed Match Challenge, which Roode and Flair lost to the team of The Miz and Asuka.

On the September 3 episode of Raw, Roode started a partnership with Chad Gable and went on to defeat The Ascension. At Survivor Series, they would lead the Raw tag team division, but they would lose to Team SmackDown in a 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match. After feuding with them for weeks, Roode and Gable defeated AOP (Akam and Rezar) and their manager Drake Maverick in a three-on-two handicap to capture the Raw Tag Team Championship on the December 10 episode of Raw, after Roode pinned Maverick. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Roode and Gable along with Balor, Crews and Angle helped Strowman defeat Baron Corbin in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match and Corbin was stripped of all authoritative power. Roode and Gable would go on to beat The Revival in title matches on December 24, 2018 episode of Raw and on the January 7, 2019 episode of Raw in a Lumberjack Match and then again on the January 21 episode of Raw with Curt Hawkins as the special guest referee. At the Royal Rumble kick-off show, Gable and Roode defeated Rezar and Scott Dawson in a non-title match. The match stipulation stated that if Rezar and Dawson were to win, their respective teams (AOP and The Revival) would both receive tag team championship matches. The Revival would eventually receive their title match on the February 11 episode of Raw, in which Gable and Roode lost the championship. On the March 4 episode of Raw, Roode and Gable interfered in The Revival's match with Ricochet and Aleister Black, attacking both teams. At Fastlane, Roode and Gable competed in a triple threat tag team match for the Raw Tag Team Championship, which was won by The Revival. At WrestleMania 35, Roode competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was unsuccessful.

David Jones

Happy 40th birthday to NXT star Bobby Roode!!!