5 signs that Bobby Roode is turning heel

Bobby Roode has struggled to gain positive crowd reactions in recent months, leading many WWE fans to predict that he will soon turn heel.

“The Glorious One” produced his best work with the company during his time as NXT champion, when he was the biggest heel on the roster, but he has been a somewhat underwhelming babyface ever since he was called up to the main roster in August 2017.

In this article, let’s take a look at the five biggest signs that Roode is destined to become a bad guy in the not-too-distant future.

#5 The ‘Glorious’ thing has gone way over the top

Chris Jericho recently told a story on his Talk Is Jericho podcast about how he became purposely annoying as a babyface in early 2016 to plant the seeds ahead of an upcoming heel turn.

Well, fast forward two years and, whether it’s being done on purpose or not, Bobby Roode’s constant shouts of “Glorious!” have become more irritating than entertaining, while his dance with The New Day, No Way Jose & Co. at Backlash felt downright cringeworthy.

Maybe, just maybe, Roode is throwing the ‘Glorious’ gimmick in everybody’s faces so much because, like Jericho in 2016, the long-term plan could be for him to become a bad guy.

#4 Fans have stopped supporting him

Unless your name is Roman Reigns, WWE tends to turn Superstars into bad guys if they fail to receive a positive reaction from fans as a babyface.

At the start of Bobby Roode’s time on the main roster, which began on the SmackDown Live after SummerSlam 2017, he was welcomed with plenty of positive reactions and he immediately became one of the top babyfaces on the show.

Since then, however, the fan support for the former NXT champion has gradually decreased and he now sometimes receives boos or, even worse, very little reaction during his matches.

If WWE history tells us anything, there’s a good chance he’ll turn his back on the fans soon and become a heel once again.

#3 He moved to a brand full of top babyfaces

Seth Rollins is one of Raw's main babyfaces

Bobby Roode was one of the featured babyfaces on SmackDown Live when he first joined the brand in August 2017.

However, following the Superstar Shake-Up that took place shortly after WrestleMania 34, he now finds himself on a Raw brand that is full of babyfaces who are a lot more popular than him.

It’s clear that WWE sees Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley as the four main good guys on Monday nights, and it can even be argued that the polarising Roman Reigns is ahead of Roode in the babyface pecking order.

So, did WWE move him to Raw to be a mid-card babyface? Or is the plan to turn him heel and have him feud with the aforementioned good guys? We suspect it could be the latter.

#2 He’s being booked against good guys

Over the last three months, Bobby Roode has been involved in rivalries with two men who often receive positive crowd reactions, Elias and Rusev, while he was clearly the least popular of the two babyfaces when he feuded with Randy Orton over the United States Championship.

Does that mean he’s definitely turning heel? No. But WWE has been known to test the waters in the past ahead of possible heel turns by having good guys face off against each other – AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura being the most recent example – and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them go down the same route with Roode.

The former NXT champion began life on the main roster by feuding with two obvious heels, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin, but his recent pattern of opponents has encouraged fans to cheer for his rivals.

#1 The ‘Glorious’ gimmick belongs to a heel

When Bobby Roode was an arrogant NXT champion between January 2017 and August 2017, it made perfect sense for him to show off the title and brag about how “glorious” he was.

Now, though, as a babyface who has struggled to get fans on his side for much of his nine months on the main roster, it’s safe to say that the ‘Glorious’ gimmick just doesn’t work for good guys.

Remember when Charlotte Flair debuted on the main roster as a babyface and she continued to state week after week how she was “genetically superior” to everyone? It was obvious that her character was destined to be a heel, and it only took four months for the inevitable turn to happen.

Three years later, Roode finds himself in the same situation, and it’s surely only a matter of time before he reverts back to being the gloating heel that succeeded in NXT.