Bobby Roode Reintroduces TNA Persona On Last Night's WWE Raw
All change for 'The Glorious One'
Newly-minted singles star Bobby Roode reintroduced himself as 'Robert' on Monday Night Raw as he rapidly moved on from the exit of former partner Chad Gable in last week's Superstar Shakeup.
The reinvention wasn't exactly the most subtle, but in trading his beard for a moustache and getting a little more serious about his stuttering start to life on the main roster, Roode captured some of the iconic immediacy that came with his scintillating arrival on the developmental brand and lesser-spotted breakthrough period in TNA
Sporting a luxurious lip lizard in place of his former five o'clock shadow, Roode took back the name he'd gotten over with in the Impact Zone a decade ago whilst speaking in heel tones closer to the far egomaniac that debuted for NXT in 2016.
Building on the potential in the promo, he crucially backed up his bluster on Night One with a victory over Ricochet - himself shy a former partner after Aleister Black departed for SmackDown Live in a supplemental shakeup.
Reactions to the switch were mixed, with some online celebrating the stylistic shift whilst others laughed off the name change in the wake of the War Raiders' catastrophic call-up. As with everything in WWE, weeks two and three will expose if the company are as invested as Roode himself in getting the retooled gimmick over.