{"id":13170,"date":"2018-01-26T15:39:14","date_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=13170"},"modified":"2018-01-26T15:39:14","modified_gmt":"2018-01-26T20:39:14","slug":"bobby-roode-issue-united-states-championship-open-challenge-royal-rumble-kickoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/01\/26\/bobby-roode-issue-united-states-championship-open-challenge-royal-rumble-kickoff\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobby Roode Issues United States Championship Open Challenge for Rumble Kickoff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of Smackdown&#8217;s superstars could be looking to win big in the <strong>Bobby Roode<\/strong> lottery, as it was announced today that Roode will have his first United States Championship defense as part of this Sunday&#8217;s <strong>Royal Rumble<\/strong> kickoff show.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Who will it be? <br \/>Who will answer the first EVER <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Glorious?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Glorious<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/USOpen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#USOpen<\/a> Challenge at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/RoyalRumble?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#RoyalRumble<\/a>? <br \/>You\u2019ll have to tune into the Kickoff to find out. The door is open, who\u2019s going to walk through it? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/USTitle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#USTitle<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Robert Roode (@RealRobertRoode) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealRobertRoode\/status\/956941239764602880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Roode won the title two weeks ago on <em><strong>Smackdown Live<\/strong><\/em> in a match that was originally slated to take place at the Rumble but was seemingly cut for time. However, with <strong>Enzo<\/strong> <strong>Amore<\/strong>&#8216;s firing leaving the fate of the Cruiserweight Championship in flux, a spot on the card opened up for Roode to hold his first ever &#8220;Glorious US Open Challenge.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Answering the Challenge<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13179\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13179\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13179\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/Jinder_Mahal_bio-1726046f1bb802c5ab8c673c9c27b933-e1516998975392.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13179\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There are a few obvious choices as to who could answer the challenge, the first of which is <strong>Jinder Mahal<\/strong>, the man who Bobby Roode beat in the finals of the tournament to crown a new champion after the title was vacated.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13177\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13177\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13177\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/960-e1516998993890.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"388\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13177\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The man who vacated said title, <strong>Dolph Ziggler<\/strong>, is another possible challenger, given he never lost the championship in the first place. Ziggler has been off TV ever since he vacated the belt last month and the talk is he will come back to claim the championship at some point. This open challenge, while spur of the moment, could be the perfect place for him to do so.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13178\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13178\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13178\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/20171008_HIAC_post_CorbinStylesTy__c632e5962cc9568d6287bb6125f72918-e1516999012717.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"314\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13178\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then there is <strong>Baron Corbin<\/strong>, who lost a triple threat against Ziggler and Roode, which cost him his title, and followed that up by losing to Roode in the championship tournament. Corbin is officially entered into the Royal Rumble but stars have pulled double-duty at the rumble before, that most recently being done two years ago by Dean Ambrose, who wrestled an Intercontinental Championship last man standing match before entering the 30-man battle royale later that night.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13181\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13181\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13181\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/068_sd_05242016rf_0523-66a03089a3a1d6a4fb5cecf25af9984d-800-1-e1516999043993.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13181\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Other likely options could include<strong> Mojo Rawley, Zack Ryder<\/strong> or<strong> Tye Dillinger<\/strong>, all of whom participated in the tournament, or someone like<strong> Rusev<\/strong>, who is as over with the fans right now as he&#8217;s been in quite some time. <strong>Randy Orton<\/strong>, while also entered into the rumble, could be another choice as the United States Championship is the only WWE title he has never won in his storied career.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13182\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13182\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13182\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/bobby-roode-roderick-strong-nxt-e1516999115549.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13182\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Given that the Royal Rumble is a co-branded show, WWE could even opt to have someone from Raw answer the challenge, with the distinction made that if said person won, the United States Championship would move to Raw or the winner would move to Smackdown. Someone like <strong>Matt Hardy, Elias, Finn Balor<\/strong> or<strong> Apollo Crews<\/strong>. Or perhaps, with the NXT roster being on hand, someone will make their main roster debut in a losing effort in the challenge. <strong>Roderick Strong<\/strong> comes to mind, especially given his issues with Bobby Roode from their time in NXT.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13180\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13180\" style=\"width: 583px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13180\" src=\"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/ZCEhvIZ.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"583\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/ZCEhvIZ.jpg 583w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/01\/ZCEhvIZ-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 583px) 100vw, 583px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13180\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Impact Wrestling<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There&#8217;s also the possibility WWE turns to a returning or re-debuting star, like <strong>EC3<\/strong>, to be the one to answer the challenge or Bobby Lashley, a former United States champion in his own right.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There&#39;s no denying the fact that <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/REALBobbyRoode?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@REALBobbyRoode<\/a>&#39;s path to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/USTitle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#USTitle<\/a> was paved with simply <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GLORIOUS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#GLORIOUS<\/a> moments! <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SDLive?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SDLive<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Fng9Naagxc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Fng9Naagxc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/955772465178816512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 23, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>There is no shortage of candidates to answer Bobby Roode&#8217;s Glorious US Open Challenge but like the man himself said, guess fans will just have to tune-in to the kickoff show to find out.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of Smackdown&#8217;s superstars could be looking to win big in the Bobby Roode lottery, as it was announced today that Roode will have his first United States Championship defense as part of this Sunday&#8217;s Royal Rumble kickoff show. Who will it be? Who will answer the first EVER #Glorious #USOpen Challenge at #RoyalRumble? You\u2019ll [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2418,"featured_media":13174,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,26,4,3],"tags":[359,630,120,167,1216,280,397,439],"class_list":["post-13170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-baron-corbin","tag-bobbly-lashley","tag-bobby-roode","tag-dolph-ziggler","tag-ec3","tag-roderick-strong","tag-royal-rumble","tag-united-states-championship"],"modified_by":"Jamie Greer","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}