10 Wrestlers Who'll Become WWE Champions For The First Time In 2017
8. Bobby Roode
With Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura’s business seemingly over and done with, The King of Strong Style needs a new challenger. That’s exactly what he’ll get this week, when Tye Dillinger, Andrade Almas, Roderick Strong, and Bobby Roode collide this Wednesday night, with number one contendership on the line.
There’s only one logical winner from this quartet, and that man is Roode. Almas and Strong aren’t tenured enough for such a spot yet, while Dillinger, though popular, is better suited to playing a plucky underdog role. Roode, meanwhile, is tailor made for the brand’s biggest spotlight, and his vast experience as a former TNA Champion makes him ideally suited to the role of NXT’s biggest heel.
Roode’s not the flashiest wrestler in the world, but he works a methodical heelish style that suits his arrogant persona to a tee. He’s still hugely over with the crowd even as the “Glorious” hype dies down, and for as long as Roode keeps upping the ante with his ridiculous TakeOver entrances, he’ll have a place in the Full Sail faithful’s hearts.
Roode will be an excellent, straightforward foil for Nakamura’s flamboyant eccentricities, and while the matches between them probably won’t be as visceral and hard-hitting as Nakamura vs. Joe, Roode will likely walk away with the NXT Championship around his waist. It is, after all, time for WWE to think about calling Nakamura up, and who better to transition the belt to than Bobby Roode?