WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion Robert Roode recently sat down with both Daily DDT and Sportskeeda to talk about a plethora of topics. Check out some of the highlights below.
Via Daily DDT:
On who’s idea it was to team with Dolph Ziggler:
It was Paul Heyman’s idea, basically. I wasn’t doing a lot at the time and Dolph’s always been in and out of storylines, for whatever reason. He’ll be busy one month and the next month you don’t see him. We were showing up to the TV and we weren’t doing a lot of stuff and one day we got to TV and Paul pulled us over and said, ‘I have this idea. I want to pitch it.’
On hitting it off with Dolph immediately:
We have that chemistry together. To be honest, it was kind of odd and cool at the same time because when I got called up from NXT, my very first program was against Dolph. Even as opponents, we had really good chemistry and we had some really good matches. That’s where it all started, and when we got together as a team, that chemistry reignited and we’ve had a lot of success.
On his last 5 years with WWE:
It’s been a blast. The NXT experience was better than I ever thought it could be. I was excited when I got there to Dallas and I remember just nervous and anxious at the same time. I was in the business a long time leading up to that, leaving a company I had been at for such a long time. My personality isn’t one for change. I get into a routine. Change is tough for me, but I was looking forward to a change. I remember being in Dallas, walking into the hotel, and kind of being in awe of the way the WWE machine works. I was welcomed with open arms to the locker room in NXT and Triple H had a huge part in getting me in there and we had some great conversations. I knew of a couple of guys there already: Samoa Joe, Finn Balor was there in NXT as well. It was an easy transition. I just knew I was burned out and I knew I needed to get away from where I was. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy personally because I had a lot of friends there and I still enjoyed being around everybody, but I needed to getaway. I felt like I was getting stale. Just numerous things.
Via Sportskeeda:
On the origin of the ‘Dirty Dawgs’ team name:
Dolph and I have been around for a minute in this business. You know what I mean? Broke in, in ’98. Dolph, I think he broke in like ’57. He’s been around forever. No, but seriously. I mean, we’re two veteran guys. Even though we weren’t in the same company together, we’ve kind of seen it all. Been there, done that. Been in the ring with the best of the best. And we know that being the old dogs in the locker room, so to speak, sometimes you got to play a little dirty. You gotta play dirty sometimes you get the job done and get what you want in this business. And that’s the kind of moniker that we want to go by. Two veteran guys that, that are here to make a paycheck and be champions. And make a name for ourselves as a tag team.
On dropping his ‘Glorious’ theme song:
Being an old school guy, if we’re going to be a team, I wanted to be presented as a team. And for the longest time I would still wear my robe with the glorious stuff on it and he would wear his stuff. And so we kind of took a little bit of both and kind of meshed it together. As well as our music, as you can tell now, we have the same music. So it’s taken a little while, but now we are a team. We’re being presented as a team. I mean, that song will always be around, right? If anything ever happens, you know, I can always go back to it. But like I said, as an old school guy and a tag team fan, you know, I want to be presented as a team and so did Dolph. if we’re going to be a team, let’s truly be a team. And the music was one of those things that had to change.
You can watch each of the interviews below courtesy of Daily DDT and Sportskeeda.
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