Robert Roode cleared to return, happy with WWE producer role

Though he's been given the green light to return to the ring, Bobby Roode is focused on his new role as a WWE producer.

Roode underwent two neck fusion surgeries within a six-month period in 2022 and 2023. He had a C5/6 cervical fusion in November 2022 and then a C4/5 fusion in May 2023.

The 47-year-old Roode hasn't wrestled since a June 2022 house show match against Omos. While appearing on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Roode said his neck issues were the result of a lot of wear and tear over the years. He first got injured in 2012 and was then re-injured in the Omos match. Roode said he just landed wrong and it wasn't anyone's fault.

Roode revealed that he just got cleared to return to the ring. But while it may be medically safe for him to wrestle, Roode is happy with the opportunity he's been given to be a WWE producer. Roode has been working in the role since last summer.

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.

Roode stated that there's no way he could wrestle full-time again.

"Could I do this full-time? There's no way I could," he admitted. Roode said his neck injury was bad on three levels, with the C6/7 also being bad in addition to the vertebrae he had surgery on.

When asked if he'd like to have one last match, Roode responded:

I think everybody would like to have one last match, right? But sometimes you just, when the wheels fall off, the wheels fall off. It's just -- that's the nature of the beast in this sport, in this industry.

Roode stated that working behind the scenes was his end goal when he first signed with WWE, but he felt like he still had a lot left in the tank at the time. Roode is grateful that Paul "Triple H" Levesque gave him the chance to wrestle.

Like I said, that was kind of like the game plan. When I came to WWE, I had my conversation with Triple H before coming to NXT. And at that time, I was almost 40. So I remember him, I was on a three-way call with him and Matt Bloom and I remember him asking me, 'So what do you want to do? Do you want to come here and coach? Do you want to be a coach?' And I'm like, 'Well, maybe one day, that's my goal, but I feel like I got a lot left in the tank.' He gave me that opportunity, which I'm super grateful for and here I am today. I had a pretty good run in NXT and then had a pretty good run on the main roster. And -- it is what it is. Like I said, when the wheels fall off, the wheels fall off.

In WWE, Roode has held the NXT Championship, United States Championship, and multiple Tag Team titles. He was a star in TNA Wrestling before signing with WWE in 2016.