Bobby Roode is 40 and an 18-year veteran of the wrestling business, but he says coming to WWE and NXT last year was a “whole different animal.”

“This has been a learning curve for me,” Roode said. “It’s been a lot of fun learning and trying to get better.”

Roode, the reigning NXT champion, has transformed from “The It Factor” who was a two-time TNA world champion and six-time TNA tag team champion to “Glorious,” complete with sequined robes, an elaborate entrance and one of the best theme songs in wrestling.

Roode defends his title against Hideo Itami in the main event at NXT TakeOver: Chicago on Saturday (8 p.m. ET on WWE Network).

“A lot of (the difference) is the presentation, but your performance has to match the presentation,” Roode said. “The ‘It Factor’ was maybe not as flashy with the robes and the music, but I haven’t changed my thinking; I haven’t changed my psychology; I haven’t changed my wrestling in any aspect. … But as far as the ‘Glorious’ character, the song itself has helped evolve what I am in the ring.”

Roode notes WWE has “so many great minds.” Among them who has helped make Roode even more glorious is WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

Michaels has been used at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando as a guest instructor. Although Michaels has said his role is not clearly defined, WWE creative head Paul “Triple H” Levesque has talked about Michaels putting the polish and finishing touches on top NXT performers.

“In my mind, there is no better person to learn from than Shawn Michaels,” Roode said. “One of the things I’ve never really learned a lot about was just the emotion of what you do with certain emotions at certain times, so we talk a lot about the character development stuff, how to carry yourself and honestly, just everything, really.

“Shawn is Shawn Michaels. Every time you can have him in your ear and sit down and hear what he has to say is beneficial.”

Talking to Roode, he is seemingly amazed about how things have changed for him in the last year after leaving TNA with an uncertain future, and by his own admission, his passion for the business having disappeared.

“I was in a bit of a rut,” he said. “Coming here has changed all that …

“With the company I was with before, we weren’t on the road as much. It was basically a television brand. … I got into this business to perform and that’s the most fun part about this business – being on the road and being in different cities and getting a chance to travel the world and do what you love to do. I just wasn’t getting that anymore. …

“From the moment, I got to the hotel (at NXT TakeOver: Dallas last year) and then to the arena and started to meet the NXT talent and see the production of everything and having an opportunity to talk to Triple H that night, I knew then this is where I needed to be and this is where I wanted to be. The greatest decision I’ve ever made in my career was to come here. All I wanted from the moment I got here was the opportunity. One year later, it’s been pretty incredible.”

Roode is not based in at the Performance Center in Orlando but lives in the Toronto area with his wife and three sons. The weekend schedule has allowed him to watch his sons play hockey, although the schedule could change as NXT expands.

“The schedule is getting really busy,” he said. “The growth that we’ve had from when I first started here up until this point has been incredible. Looking at this whole year and then going into WrestleMania next year, I can see NXT being a full-time brand.”

GROWTH OF THE BRUISERWEIGHT

Pete Dunne left WWE’s inaugural United Kingdom championship tournament without the title after losing in the final to Tyler Bate, but he might have left with something more important.

Think back to some of the event’s memorable moments and Dunne was in the middle of most – his attack on second-round opponent Sam Gradwell as the first night of the tournament was going off the air; his blasting Bate after a semifinal match calling into question whether Bate would be able to compete and cementing Bate as the underdog; his snarl and mouth-guard covered grin during interviews.

Dunne had established “The Bruiserweight” – weighs like a cruiserweight, hits like a bruiser – in two short nights with an American audience that had little or no knowledge of him.

“I had an idea of who I am and who my character is through what I’ve done on the independents,” he said. “I used that as my developmental, trying to get to WWE. Once I got to WWE, what they did with me, with the hype videos and the way they shot me and the cameras, I learned a lot more about who I was as a character.

“Having done more NXT stuff since then has also helped me get that character across. The audience better understands who I am now and I’ve gotten tons more exposure.”

Dunne will be part of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Special that airs Friday at 3 p.m. ET and re-airs at 8 p.m. The show was taped recently in Norwich, England. Dunne faces Trent Seven in a No. 1 contender’s match. (Spoiler alert: Dunne wins and will face Bate on Saturday at NXT TakeOver: Chicago.) Hall of Famer Jim Ross and Nigel McGuinness will call the U.K. special as well as the U.K. title match at TakeOver.

WWE has announced its intention for a weekly show in the U.K., although a timetable has not been released.

“It’s been really crazy,” said Dunne, 23. “In a short span of time, everything has changed so much. I’ve gone from having a tryout to a title match at NXT TakeOver.” For myself in particular, it’s felt almost like overnight fame. … We were told before (the U.K. tournament) about the reach of WWE Network, but I don’t think we understood how much until we were sitting in the hotel afterward and looking at our phones.”

The journey, though, is much longer for Dunne, who began training at 12. He had his first professional match before he was 14. By 16, he and friend Jim Lee co-founded Attack! Pro Wrestling in England so they and their friends would have more opportunities, given the dearth of options for pro-style wrestling in England.

As he points out, at that time, British wrestling was “absolutely not a thing.” After a stint in Japan, he has wrestled for much of the last three years with Progress, Revolution Pro and Insane Championship Wrestling.

“I had to grow pretty fast in wrestling,” said Dunne, 23. “I was 12 years old, and I was surrounded by grown men and taking three- and four-hours drives and going to other countries. I think that molded my personality. At about 16, I realized that style of wrestling that was in the U.K. wasn’t really the style that I like. It’s very popular, but it was not exactly what I was going to settle for.

“It was great to do on the side. I really liked doing it, but it’s not what I wanted. I wanted to do something different. Wee started our own little promotion called Attack Pro Wrestling, which is still going now although I can’t be there very often. That helped me realize who I am as a wrestler and provided opportunities where I could try out different stuff. It’s not all about the moves in pro wrestling but we were able to go out there and we used that as a platform to build ourselves up and be the wrestlers we wanted to be.”

That has led to Dunne’s style — a mix of British grappling, modern moves and an aggressive personality.

Dunne is nothing if not inventive. At a show last weekend, he proudly notes on Twitter:

Over the course of two shows today I used at least 4 fans, two refs and a tag team partner as weapons. I also pedigreed a ref in to a cake. — Pete Dunne (@PeteDunneYxB) May 14, 2017

That followed a show in Scotland in late April when he pulled a kid out of the stands and used the kid to launch into his opponent and knock him from a chair.

“I don’t know if I’m going to still be on the independents (with the WWE show) so I’m trying to have the best time that I can until I have to take all my energy and focus it on WWE,” he said. “I’m trying to do something different and completely out of the box and give the audience something they’ll remember. … Pulling the kid out of the audience, I hope that is going to be something that kid and his family remember for the rest of his life. … Right now, I can be a bit more free and a bit more relaxed to be myself and hopefully go out there and have more fun.”