TNA standout Robert “Bobby” Roode continues to be a performer to watch.

The 34-year-old Ontario, Canada, native has come into his own during the past couple of years.

His passion for the business shone through in a recent interview with his hometown newspaper, The Peterborough Examiner, as he reminisced about playing ball hockey in the street as a young boy and imagining scoring the winning goal in the Stanley Cup final.

“This is my Stanley Cup,” said Roode, referring to his upcoming world title match with TNA champion and former Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view Oct. 16 in Philadelphia. “This is the furthest I have ever gone (singles) and definitely the highlight for me in my years of wrestling. It is the kind of thing I dreamt about when I was younger and first got started.”

Roode may be finally getting a well-deserved push in singles competition, but it was his work as a tag-team specialist that put him on the wrestling map. Roode’s pairing with James Storm as Beer Money has been a throwback to the days when tag-team wrestling was an integral part of the business. A series of matches with The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) were among the best tag bouts in recent years.

Roode told the newspaper that he is just happy to be in the mix.

“I got into it because I was a huge wrestling fan when I was a small child. I watched it every weekend. It’s in my blood and I have a passion for it. There is fame and fortune, but they aren’t the main reasons I’m in it. I’m basically shy and personal and do it simply because I love it. I worked hard to put myself out there and make a name for myself. I love every minute of it.”

Roode garnered the most points among 12 wrestlers during the Bound For Glory series which ran from June to September to earn the right to face Angle as the top contender.

Roode is a former stick boy for the Ontario Hockey League’s Peterborough Petes and player at the local junior B and high school hockey levels. He scored the winning goal in overtime for Kenner Collegiate in the OFSAA final in 1995.