Bobby Roode last competed for WWE in June 2022, losing a house show match to Omos as he went away to get two neck fusion surgeries. He has since transitioned into being a producer.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Roode stated he could wrestle if he wanted to do so. Here are the highlights:
On being medically cleared:
“Ironically enough, I just got green-lighted. The fusion has completely fused. So as far as like, looking at it from a medical point of view, it’s safe to get back in the ring, I guess. But at almost 48 years old, given the opportunity that I’ve been given now to work as a producer, which was my goal coming to WWE almost eight years ago. I’m quite happy doing this. And I feel like I’ve had a good run, as they say, and I’m happy to do what I’m doing now.”
On being able to wrestle:
“Could I do this full-time? There’s no way I could. Look, to be honest, the injury I have, three levels are bad. The level six and seven are not good either. So when I got my injury back in 2022, when I re-injured it I got an MRI done the next day. And like, I mean, they said that your three levels are just not good. Two levels are not great. You need to get fixed. So I went to Birmingham and saw Dr. Cordova, who was amazing. And he thought we need to do a two-level. Because the thing was that I wasn’t living in any pain. I didn’t have pain. I could go through the day without feeling any sort of pain, the issue with me was my strength. And then because I was losing strength, I started to lose muscle in my right arm. It just scared me because the first thing I thought it was like Paul Orndorff and his injury and that’s what was happening to me.”
On focusing on being a producer:
“I don’t think I could take the risk of going back in the ring and working a full-time schedule. Just knowing that as well. I just feel like I look differently too, you know what I mean? I always kind of prided myself in the way that I looked on television. And sure, no, I love being in the gym and working out. And it’s just when you physically don’t look the same, it’s just a mental thing as well.”
(H/T to Inside The Ropes for the quotes)