Bobby Roode had nearly two decades' experience in wrestling when he came to WWE last year but always had been known moreso for his work inside the ring than any exterior bells and whistles.
That changed when Roode came to NXT... and Bobby Roode's theme song, "Glorious", became a smash with wrestling fans.
"I never really imagined me, as a performer, having that type of song to capture, to be able to capture this type of audience—so big," Roode told Edge and Christian during a recent appearance on their podcast, E&C's Pod of Awesomeness. " ... having an entrance and having a song that people can connect with is like, that's half the battle. When the music hits and the people react to that, you're already ahead of the game and I never really had that before. Having the song and the entrances I've been given, the Takeovers and everything, is so cool. It makes my job a lot easier in one aspect."
The "Glorious" theme became a hit even before Roode made his WWE TV debut, at Takeover: Brooklyn II last August. By then, as Roode noted, the song already had been downloaded almost 1 million times.
"I never realized how big the song was until the music hit that night and I had my entrance," he recalled, noting that having an entrance theme that resonates in such a way also challenges him on a nightly basis. "I've got to make sure it's not just about the song. I've got to go in there and have every match together. I've got to be a star while I'm working."
Roode reiterated what has already been reported in the past -- namely, that the "Glorious" theme was just sitting around unused at the time he signed, and that he had serious doubts about the song when he first heard it.
"I listened to it and it was completely different than what we had before. It's totally different than anything else on the show. It could really suck or it could be really great. I took it back to the hotel and let EY [Eric Young] listen to it and he was like, 'What is this, gospel music?' He hated it of course. … Obviously it didn't suck. It's been great. The song itself is totally a blessing in disguise."
Click here to check out Roode's complete, extensive interview on the Pod of Awesomeness.
