Roughly Obsess & Destroy (abbreviated in writing as RO&D, spoken as R.O.D.) was a professional wrestling stable founded in 2003 in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) by Taka Michinoku, disbanding in 2006, and later briefly reforming in Pro Wrestling Noah in 2007. Debuting in 2003 as an initially heel group of mostly gaijin wrestlers recruited by Taka Michinoku during his time working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in the United States, the group initially consisted of him, Gigantes and The Gladiator, but was composed primarily of him, Taiyo Kea, D'Lo Brown, Buchanan and Jamal throughout their peak.
With the introduction of the new heel Voodoo Murders unit in 2005, RO&D subsequently turned face and became popular with fans for their pre match promos and catchphrase, "R.O.D., boo-yah!". After they were defeated by the Voodoo Murders in a losing team disbands match on September 16, 2006, Taka disbanded the group, with the only remaining members at the time being himself and Kea, as RO'Z, Buchanan and D'Lo Brown had all defected to the Voodoo Murders.
Appearing at Pro Wrestling Noah's Nippon Budokan show on April 24, 2007, Taka announced his intention to revive the group in Noah, with himself, D'Lo Brown, Buchanan and Kazma Sakamoto as the new members. D'Lo and Buchanan briefly held the GHC Tag Team Championship in 2007, however, the group effectively disbanded again when Brown re-signed with WWE in June 2008. Brown returned to NOAH the following year, where he and Buchanan briefly used the RO&D name as a tag team.
History
Original incarnation (2003–2006)
Formation and early years (2003–2004) RO&D was initially formed in October 2003, as Taka Michinoku announced he would be forming a stable comprised of himself and the strongest gaijin he knew of. Three names were initially considered for the group, these being "Yoshida-ya USA", "RAGD" (Rough and Greats Destroyers Crew), and the name the group finally came to be known as "RO&D" (Roughly Obsess & Destroy). The group's first two members were The Gladiator and Gigantes, later also recruiting D'Lo Brown, Buchanan, Justin Credible and Jamal in December; however, the group would be dealt a blow early in its life as Gigantes suddenly died in his hotel room while on tour on December 6.
In early 2004, Taka recruited a new member for the group, Hawaiian Taiyo Kea, unique to the other members in the sense that he was a gaijin, but was trained by and had spent his entire career up to that point in AJPW. Early in their run, the group primarily feuded with Keiji Muto, Kensuke Sasaki and his Kensuke Family group, Toshiaki Kawada, Satoshi Kojima and the rest of the babyface All Japan roster. The addition of Kea also saw the formation of a successful tag team between himself and Jamal, with the two combining to win the 2004 Worlds Strongest Tag Determination League, defeating KojiKaz (Satoshi Kojima and Kaz Hayashi) in the final and dedicating their victory to Gigantes.
Rise in popularity and face turn (2005) At one point in early 2005, the group had a monopoly on all available championships in All Japan bar the Triple Crown, as Kea and Jamal held the World Tag Team Championship, Buchanan and Rico Constantino held the All Asia Tag Team Championship and Taka Michinoku held the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, the most successful period of the group's lifespan. Around this time, they began to gain popularity with fans for their catchphrase and pre and post match promos, showing signs of a full face turn, which was officially realised after the introduction of the rival Voodoo Murders stable. VM followed a similar theme to RO&D with heavy gaijin inclusion, however, their leader was the villainous Taru and the group were portrayed as much more ruthless heels, generating sympathy for RO&D and leading to their face turn. RO&D would feud with the group throughout 2005 as faces, with Taka later recruiting New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)'s Masahiro Chono as a special one night member in July, and the group producing their own event, "RO&D Festival ~ Boo Ya! The World" in September.