Bobby Roode Makes Main Roster Debut During SmackDown

Bobby Roode made his debut for WWE SmackDown on Tuesday night. The debut was largely expected and one of the worst kept secrets as far as recent NXT call-ups go, but it was still a fantastic moment to hear “Glorious” come on throughout the Barclays Center.

Roode’s pending debut on the main roster had been heavily expected ever since he dropped the NXT Championship to Drew McIntyre at NXT TakeOver on Saturday night.

Roode attended RAW on Monday night, the only NXT wrestler who was backstage at the show. That caused some rumors to surface that he could be RAW-bound, despite earlier reports suggesting he was headed to SmackDown.

When Roode did not debut on Monday, it was seen as a foregone conclusion that he would be at SmackDown. He was photographed entering the venue on Tuesday afternoon, and early arrivals at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night even snapped some pictures of WWE testing his titantron before SmackDown went live.

Roode made his debut during the second segment of the show. After an entrance and brief microphone segment by Aiden English, Roode’s theme song came on to a loud roar from the Brooklyn faithful.

Roode went on to wrestle English, with English getting more offense perhaps than some would expect during such a big debut. The bout went through one commercial break before coming back in time for Roode’s comeback. He hit a spinebuster and a Glorious DDT to earn victory in his main roster debut.

Renee Young interviewed Roode mid-ring following the bout. He congratulated Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan on “breaking the bank” and “cashing in” on the hottest free agent in wrestling today. He said that SmackDown went, in a “New York minute,” from being great to glorious.

Where does Roode head from here? He’s rumored to be getting the push that was originally scheduled for Baron Corbin, who was being elevated until recently falling out of favor with WWE management. Corbin’s bizarre Money In The Bank cash-in (and failure) on last week’s show, followed by a clean loss to John Cena at SummerSlam, showed that he is probably going to have to work his way back up the card.