Bobby Roode On What Shawn Michaels Taught Him When He Joined NXT

Bobby Roode is the current NXT Champion, and he’s set to defend his title against Hideo Itami at NXT TakeOver: Chicago on Saturday night. Roode is the top star in NXT, but for many years he was one of the top stars in TNA. Roode is a former two time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, but near the end of his run he seemed to get lost in the shuffle.

Roode recently spoke to For The Win, and he said that he was in a rut while he was in TNA, and signing with NXT was the best choice he could have made.

“I was in a bit of a rut,” he said. “Coming here has changed all that … With the company I was with before, we weren’t on the road as much. It was basically a television brand. … I got into this business to perform and that’s the most fun part about this business – being on the road and being in different cities and getting a chance to travel the world and do what you love to do. I just wasn’t getting that anymore. …”

Being a member of the NXT roster certainly has its perks. One of which is the fact that NXT stars often get to train with some of the greatest names in the industry, and Roode said he got a little advice from WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

“In my mind, there is no better person to learn from than Shawn Michaels,” Roode said. “One of the things I’ve never really learned a lot about was just the emotion of what you do with certain emotions at certain times, so we talk a lot about the character development stuff, how to carry yourself and honestly, just everything, really. Shawn is Shawn Michaels. Every time you can have him in your ear and sit down and hear what he has to say is beneficial.”

On this week’s episode of Still Real Radio we’re talking to Gregory Shane Helms about his thoughts on Randy Orton’s independent wrestling comments, the future of the Broken Hardys, working on the “Ready To Rumble” set and more. You can subscribe to Still Real Radio on iTunes, and you can also check out the latest episode below.