The recent change to Baron Corbin’s character has created stronger interest in him for the first time in years. Corbin joined WWE as an early Performance Center prospect with backgrounds in the NFL and boxing. Many people in WWE viewed Corbin as an obvious future main eventer and world champion.
Corbin has yet to reach that potential, but he has remained in WWE longer than most. The current gimmick of blowing all his money and being down on his luck may be Corbin’s best chance at greater success. Regardless, WWE has seen him becoming a controversial figure in some ways when it comes to backstage stories. Corbin had his fair share of surprising moments behind the scenes.
10 WWE Canceled Title Plans Due To Backstage Argument
The low point of Baron Corbin’s career featured him losing his chance to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase. Corbin attempted to cash in on Jinder Mahal, but he was rolled up for the loss and watched his title hopes go up in flames.
WWE gave up on Corbin’s plans to win the WWE Championship when he got into an argument with a doctor over concussions. The former NFL doctor now employed with WWE was ripped apart by Corbin and WWE felt the need to punish him.
9 Received Death Threats For Attacking Becky Lynch
Baron Corbin struggled to come off as a credible threat to Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship. WWE tried getting the interest up when adding Rollins’ wife Becky Lynch and her rival Lacey Evans to the feud.
Corbin hitting an End of Days on Lynch was the peak of the program due to how much the fans reacted. Future interviews saw Corbin revealing he got death threats for the first time in his career from fans upset he struck a woman.
8 Contacted WWE About Starting Wrestling
Most of the athletes from other sports to join WWE will get recruited. Baron Corbin took matters into his own hands when realizing that professional wrestling was the next goal in play following his football and boxing careers ending.
WWE was impressed with the background of Corbin and hired him on a developmental contract. Corbin ended up progressing to become the first breakout male NXT star who didn’t have an independent wrestling background of some sort.
7 Pitched Tattooing Head Like Bam Bam Bigelow
Baron Corbin’s love of tattoos is clearly shown with his ink art during matches. One unlikely favorite wrestler of Corbin inspired him to consider making a drastic change to his appearance after shaving his head bald.
Bam Bam Bigelow stood out instantly due to the tattoos on his head that added to the gimmick. Corbin revealed that he has pitched this idea in the past and wants to make it happen when the right tattoo can make it work like his former favorite wrestler.
6 Vince McMahon Once Body Checked Corbin Into Mirror For Fun
The relationship for wrestlers with Vince McMahon varies from performer to performer. Vince loved Baron Corbin enough to develop a physical form of interaction that shocked Corbin backstage before a match.
The gorilla position has a huge mirror for the talent to make sure everything is right before going to the ring. Corbin once shared a story about Vince violently bodychecking him into it for no reason other than fun. The anger of Corbin was forgotten once he realized it was McMahon and not another wrestler.
5 Purchased Big Show's Old Home
The end of Big Show’s WWE career still sees a lot of talents loving him for helping them out in various ways. Baron Corbin didn’t get to work a program with Big Show like other big men Braun Strowman and Big Cass, but he did secure one noteworthy moment with him.
Big Show sold his former home to Corbin since Baron was looking to relocate following some time on the main roster. The home was also owned by The Undertaker years prior when he sold it to Big Show. Time will tell if Corbin sells it to another wrestler in the future to keep the tradition going.
4 Admitted To Other Wrestlers His NXT Gimmick Was A Work
Baron Corbin adopted the natural heat given to him in NXT by the fan base. The main event scene featured stars from other promotions like Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, and Neville all taking NXT to new peaks.
Corbin was among the few homegrown names and used that to separate himself. The indie stars were targeted in promos by Corbin who claimed he didn’t love wrestling growing up. Bull Dempsey revealed that Corbin would tell the locker room how that was a work for crowd heat and that he was a diehard fan growing up.
3 SummerSlam Match With John Cena Was Meant To Bury Him
The SummerSlam 2017 match between John Cena and Baron Corbin came just days after Corbin lost his Money in the Bank cash-in for a punishment. WWE treated that week as a way to humble Corbin by doing him no favors.
Cena easily decimated Corbin in a short match that featured little back and forth. Corbin was intentionally booked to look nowhere near Cena’s level due to the previously mentioned incident yelling at a WWE doctor.
2 Kurt Angle Wanted Another Retirement Match Opponent Over Him
Kurt Angle shared the same feelings as his fans when WWE announced Baron Corbin as his final opponent. WrestleMania 35 should have been a bigger match for Angle to end his career, but WWE wanted him to put over Corbin to give him heat moving forward.
Angle had a lot of respect for Corbin and understood WWE’s thinking. However, he would later admit that he wanted to work with John Cena or one of the names from his TNA years like Samoa Joe. WWE picking Corbin limited his chances to have a classic or important match beyond his retirement.
1 Was Unhappy About Putting Over Riddle
The momentum of Baron Corbin grew worse each month in 2020 once his feud with Roman Reigns ended. WWE started to have Corbin put others over with little importance to his own character and that showed with his feud against Matt Riddle.
Reports indicated that Corbin was unhappy about losing to Riddle before the NXT call-up even formed his identity on the main roster. Corbin reportedly believed that Riddle should “go through five enhancement talents” before defeating him, but WWE lost all interest in Baron at that time.