Baron Corbin talks about the immense talent currently wrestling for WWE NXT and the philosophy behind his new slogan. Corbin is a WWE Superstar who always seems to be on the cusp of making it big. He is always in good feuds with talented wrestlers. His promos are always good and his matches never disappoint. However, the only championship he has won in the WWE is the United States Championship. He is also very divisive and fans either love or hate him.
RELATED: Chelsea Green Recalls Which Divas Match Inspired Her To Want To Wrestle
During the WWE Draft in May, Baron Corbin was left as a free agent. This allowed him to appear on Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. A few weeks after the draft he attacked NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and announced his intent to become NXT Champion. The match saw a return of his Lone Wolf character, but he failed to defeat Hayes.
Moving to NXT once was seen as a demotion or as a negative. However, it is now seen as a way to push NXT wrestlers and showcase main roster wrestlers in a way they can’t on Raw and SmackDown. Some of the other Superstars who have spent some time in NXT are Becky Lynch, Dolph Ziggler and Dominik Mysterio among others. On a recent episode of Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Corbin talked about why he enjoyed going back to NXT. Baron Corbin stated the following:
“I think the audience may have needed that break, so being in NXT is giving them a couple of months away from me, but I’m still grinding down there, and, you know, Shawn [Michaels] has grabbed on and [is] like, ‘What do you want to do? We want you to work Carmelo. What do you want to do, though?’ So he explained it, and I said, ‘Man, I would love if we could just let me build what I want to be. Like, let me have control one time.'”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Baron Corbin Has a New “Burn The Ships” Mentality
The loss to Hayes made Baron Corbin change his character completely. The following week a vignette played of Corbin burning items of his past characters. These items included his Constable Corbin vest, King of the Ring crown, and Happy Corbin hat. Along with the new Corbin came a new “burn the ships” slogan. Baron Corbin explained the new “burning of the ships” slogan and why he has based his new character around it. Baron Corbin continued:
“My first [new] gear with the ships, the burning of the ships, that was my whole philosophy. It’s an old thing where … it’s the best because it’s like, ‘Hey man, we’re abandoning everything, and it’s either going to work or we’re going to die. We’re going back on their ships if we do it.’
That’s where I was at. I’ve been around a long time, 11 years now, and it’s like, ‘Man, we can make one more real strong run, and we’ve got to burn everything in the past, and it’s all or nothing.’ And I think that’s what people are seeing and feeling and connecting to.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
WWE’s Trust In Corbin
Corbin has had a lot of trust put in him by WWE. Not only by working with and putting over wrestlers like Hayes but also wrestlers like Gable Steveson. Steveson is an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. He was signed to WWE in 2021. Even though he has not appeared in WWE much, they are very high on him. It is very clear they are hoping he will be the next Kurt Angle. They have been very careful to protect him and not halt any momentum he has gathered.
In July at The Great American Bash, Steveson had his first professional wrestling match with Corbin. It ended in a double countout but showed the level of trust WWE has in Corbin to work with a wrestler they have high hopes for. Since Corbin has spent a few months in NXT he has had an opportunity to work with and watch some of the top stars in NXT. He gave his assessment of what he thinks of the stars. He added:
“You look at a guy like Melo [Carmelo Hayes] and he’s got all of it [the passion and drive], and a guy like Bron [Breakker]. You’ve got Ilja [Dragunov], there’s another just absolute special entity there. Ilja, to me, is a complete package with his physicality, his emotion, his promos. Bron is just a wrecking machine. There’s so many guys.
There’s other guys like Joe Coffey, I’m a huge fan of his. I think he has so much talent and it’s fun to watch guys like that compete and try to elevate themselves and get to the top of the card there, which eventually will get them to the next level. Then what they do with it is on them, but it’s cool to be back working with those guys.”
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
When Corbin was in NXT previously he was at the top of the card and always in NXT title contention or close to it. It had looked like he would continue that momentum on the main roster, but that didn’t quite happen. Hopefully, with him being back in NXT it can remind fans and WWE how good he is. When he returns to the main roster he can hopefully have some solid feuds for the United States Championship and Intercontinental if not the World Heavyweight.
RELATED: Bron Breakker Recalls Valuable Lessons Learned From Veterans And Not Being Called Up Yet
What have you thought of Corbin’s time back in NXT? Has it been the best Baron Corbin we’ve seen yet? If not, what do you think the best version or period of Corbin has been? Do you think he will or should win the NXT Championship? Who else should he work with in NXT? Let us know if you think he should get a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship when he returns.
SOURCE: Wrestling Inc., Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Wrestling Inc.
