The Sun Is Setting On A ‘Glorious Day’ For Bobby Roode & Rusev

Bobby Roode opened Smackdown Live this past Tuesday but if WWE just turned him heel it wouldn’t take him too long to be closing it.

There’s a heck of a lot more to Roode than a catchphrase but Vince McMahon has made it clear to creative that he doesn’t want anyone that’s angled as a babyface to say more than a few sentences before dropping a canned line or corporate buzzword (the cherry on top is Kevin Dunn’s “linger-too-long” camera work sometimes with PowerPoint graphics.)

However, anytime Roode gets a chance to speak there’s no objective towards building a feud or a persona. The primary focus is, “how to we get to a point where he can say ‘Glorious’?” All that other stuff is secondary.

Scripted dialogue aside, the gimmick was tailor made for a heel and Roode has proven that he can be a clean-cut prick with a mean streak. He did it in NXT and he did it in Impact. How WWE hasn’t made that happen is beyond me but they’ll have a pretty big stage to do it on in New Orleans. The only problem is that he’s involved in a fatal four-way with two other heels.

Rusev has been getting that organic, self-made shine that Vince despises and, like Daniel Bryan, Vince has developed a knack for sweeping that fire under the rug because it wasn’t part of the plan he orchestrated. The major difference is that Rusev isn’t Daniel Bryan. A guy like Bryan only shows up every 10 to 15 years. As fun as it is to say, “Rusev Day!”

By continuing him down a heelish path, and having him lose key matches against key opponents, Rusev’s potency for star power will wane since it’s something Vince isn’t allowing the fans to fully wrap their arms around. Rusev’s personality can make the schtick run longer than a Tye Dillinger “10” chant but he isn’t D-Bryan teflon. The Bulgarian Brute does bruise. Hopefully including him in the WrestleMania four-way is a sign of Vince’s vote of confidence.

How do you accomplish both turns? Have Rusev win the belt at Mania, by pinning or submitting Jinder and throughout the match show Roode trying to win the belt back by any means necessary. Just to tease the mean streak. Then, when Rusev is celebrating “RusevMania” have Bobby implode by obliterating everyone with celebratory chair shots, completely spoiling the moment for him when everyone will surly to be chanting “Rusev Day” in the Super Dome. Follow it up with a Tuesday ambush on Orton (he can gun for Aiden later), putting Randy on the shelf for the next couple months while you introduce some of the new NXT crop.

There you have Bobby Roode in his rightful place against a Rusev ready to start a brand new day, well on their way to closing Smackdown. It would be… just in time.

Follow Dominic on Twitter @DominicDeAngelo

Related: Reason Why Rusev Was Added To The US Title Match At WrestleMania 34