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WWE News: Bobby Roode Makes Surprise Debut At NXT Download

By Shawn Lealos
Published on: 14:44 PST, Jun 11, 2016

At the WWE event NXT Takeover: Dallas, former TNA Impact Wrestling world champion Bobby Roode was spotted sitting at ringside for the event. At a NXT television event, Eric Young made his NXT debut by wrestling Samoa Joe, making it look like Young and Roode were both coming to the WWE. Roode had not been seen much since but made another appearance at NXT Takeover: The End during a backstage skit where he simply walked by.

Finally, after three months, Bobby Roode made his WWE NXT debut, but it wasn’t on a televised broadcast. Instead, Wrestling Inc. reported that Roode made his debut at the WWE NXT Download event at the Download Festival at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England. Bobby was a surprise combatant on the card and he beat Angelo Dawkins at the show. The crowd went completely nuts during Roode’s arrival.

With the brand split and WWE draft coming up in July, the arrival of Bobby Roode is coming at just the right time. According to the Daily Wrestling News, Vince McMahon has given Triple H the thumbs up on calling up various members of the NXT roster for the WWE draft, so it looks like names such as American Alpha, Finn Balor, Bayley, and more will be leaving NXT and making their jump to the main roster.

With that happening, the NXT brand will need to restock, and there might not be a better way to restock the brand than with established talent. Bobby Roode has long been considered one of the best technical wrestlers on the planet and a nice modern-day version of someone like Ric Flair or Arn Anderson. Bobby Roode would be a huge addition to the NXT roster and it looks like he will be getting the chance now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqidk0FaMuY

The WWE NXT Download event was a special non-televised house show in England, and much like the house show where Samoa Joe beat Finn Balor for the NXT title, it proves that anything can happen when it comes to NXT, whether it is televised or not. Forbes reported that the arrival of Bobby Roode in England was a huge surprise for all those in attendance, and his win means big things for the NXT wrestling brand.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, NXT Takeover: Brooklyn looks to have a big match between former NXT Champion Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura, which means that the world title competition is still wide open. While Bobby Roode is a brand new arrival in NXT and the WWE, he has a history with Samoa Joe and could be an immediate opponent to plug into the title picture with Joe, even without any WWE experience. Another idea could be a Bobby Roode and Austin Aries feud, but that might not work because Aries can’t afford two straight NXT Takeover losses.

Whatever happens, Bobby Roode is a huge addition to WWE NXT Wrestling. He is a great talent and is really WWE-ready in much the same way that AJ Styles was ready when he showed up. Obviously, Roode will start off in NXT, but it is only a matter of time before Bobby is ready for a call-up to the main roster himself, as he is more ready than almost anyone in NXT outside of Joe and Nakamura.

Outside of Bobby Roode beating Angelo Dawkins, there were other big matches at WWE NXT Download. No Way Jose beat Alex Wolfe, Tye Dillinger beat Sawyer Fulton, Carmella beat Nicky Glencross, Asuka beat Peyton Royce, and the tag team of Finn Balor and Hugo Knox beat the Revival. Obviously, Bobby Roode was one of the highlights of the show.

[Image via WWE]

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