Bobby Roode reveling in the glory of being NXT champion

Wrestlers are known to make grand entrances, but on Thursday night, the Tower Theater will probably never see one more immaculate than that of Bobby Roode.

Roode will not merely walk to the ring. He will saunter with his arms spread wide while wearing a robe that will gleam on every step he takes and a championship around his waste that signifies him as the best WWE's third brand, NXT, has to offer.

He will do this as chants of "Glorious!" cascade down upon him from thousands of adoring fans.

It will be a scene any person could envy, but it is also a far cry from the less-than-grand entrances he made during his initial time with WWE from 2001-04.

Back then, Roode was usually already standing in the ring, as he waited for a more popular superstar to make his entrance and promptly defeat him in uneventful fashion.

There were no expensive robes, no one chanting his name and certainly no championship gold around his waste.

Worse than that was that there was no contract offer from WWE.

In looking back at the point of his career, Roode holds no hard feelings toward being passed over by WWE. He sees it as a learning experience that allowed him to become a star elsewhere, specifically TNA Wrestling.

When he became available again in early 2016, it had been 12 years since his last dealings with WWE. However, things were much different this time around.

He was wiser and more experienced, but most importantly, he was better.

"I firmly believe not just in business but in life that everything happens for a reason," Roode said during an interview with philly.com. "Not getting hired back in those days fueled the fire a little bit to go out there and get over and go different places and work harder. I have no regrets. I got to work with some great people over the last 12 years."

"The experience that I gained and the people that I met and the travels that I did, I wouldn't change that for the world," he added. "I think it's made me a better worker. It's made me a better wrestler. It's made me a better person.

I think in sports entertainment timing is everything. It was a learning experience for me back in those days. I obviously wasn't ready and I got to go to a different spot and for over 12 years kind of work on my brand and become somewhat of a household name and get better and get older."

Just getting back to WWE was not enough for Roode. He wanted to make — no pun intended — an impact.

Roode had an idea of how he wanted to do that and brainstormed with WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque on the kind of persona he would play on television.

Once the idea came to fruition, a proper theme song was needed for his entrance.

Enter: Glorious Domination.

That is the name of the song created by WWE's in-house music duo CFO$ that has struck a cord with wrestling around the world. The song once topped iTunes charts and has been viewed on WWE's official YouTube channel more than 4 million times as of this writing.

It has taken on a life of its own with everything from Internet memes and videos to fans singing along en masse every time Roode makes one of his elaborate entrances into an arena.

Roode's dedication and hard work to the craft of professional wrestling is the main course, but Glorious Domination has been the garnish that has helped elevate him to heights he has never seen.

"I had the idea of coming back wearing the robes and portraying a certain character and that song just kind of came about," he said. "It was just kind of handed over to me at the last minute. With the way song went, I just kind of adapted what I had in mind, as far as a character, to kind of fit the song and the entrance just kind of came along with it."

Despite all of that, Roode is much more than flash and panache. The man that steps into the ring at the Tower Theater Thursday night is one that has learned from the many peaks and valleys that comes with being a professional wrestler.

Roode's journey to the top of NXT has not always featured lavish entrances and fans singing along with him, but right now it does, and he is reveling in all of the glory that comes with his success.

Doors open for NXT Live at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby at 6 p.m. with the show scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. For ticket infortmation, click here.