More than a year and a half ago, Baron Corbin was released from his WWE contract, ending a 12-year run with the company. Corbin was an agile big man that showed some promise early in his NXT tenure in 2014, but became a victim of circumstances in terms of the way that he was used on the main roster. Keep in mind, when Raw was woefully underwhelming in the late-2010s, the character of Constable Corbin was blamed for the subpar product. Sure, even the most casual fans know that the office scripts the direction of WWE programming, but where did that scripting leave the Corbin persona? He was presented as secondary and lackluster so that more or less doomed any chances for him to have major success during that run.
Don’t get me wrong, Corbin did the best with what he was given, the problem was that he had absolute drek to work with. There was no way that he was going to be positioned as the lame authority figure, or the guy that was broke, and still be able to maintain any momentum as a commodity that the audience should be invested into or follow the journey.
Corbin was 40 when he was cut from the WWE, and considering that he had more than a decade on the WWE payroll, I wrote at the time that if he was financially secure that he might want to consider retirement since he made it through his WWE career without any major injuries. It can be understated how fortunate a performer is if that can get through over a decade of full-time wrestling without any major injuries, especially with how often neck and back injuries happen in the modern era with the more modern style. Yes, WWE and AEW workers have a more limited schedule than in the past, but the argument can be made that the chance of injury actually increased in more recent years because of how the performers push the envelope on the bigger stages. For example, Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, and Logan Paul are just a few on the WWE roster that suffered serious injuries in recent years. The injury rate in All Elite Wrestling is slightly higher, but it’s less about the promotions specifically, and more about the downside of the incredible athleticism that is more common place now than ever before.
Still, Corbin continued to wrestle, albeit on a limited schedule, on the independent circuit since he left WWE. He had a few appearances with Game Changer Wrestling’s Blood Sport series, which at least for the diehard audience that saw those shows, allowed him to portray himself in a much more serious way than a broke hobo asking for change on Smackdown. He worked primarily for Major League Wrestling, a group known more for winning a $20 million dollar anti-trust lawsuit against the WWE a few years ago than anything else, for the majority of his time outside of the organization. MLW seems to do well for the level that it’s at, and if it’s a profitable venture than it’s successful. That said, it’s obvious that MLW simply isn’t going to be in the same conversation as WWE, AEW, or even TNA so if an offer from a bigger promotion is on the table, the talent will take it. Under the name Bishop Dyer, Corbin was stripped of the MLW tag titles recently, fueling speculation that he could be on his way back to the WWE,
Last week on Smackdown, Baron Corbin made a surprise return, attacking Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes during a US title match. It got the artificial pop that you’d expect when someone returns from an extended absence, but there might be more layers to the scenarios that reveal that the office might have major plans for him, at least compared to what he was booked for previously.
All things considered, Corbin wasn’t away from the company all that long. This wasn’t a situation similar to Drew McIntyre or Cody Rhodes where they were gone from the landscape for several years and did enough elsewhere that they were somewhat of a demand already built up for them to make a comeback. That’s not to say that Corbin will automatically reach similar success than Cody and Drew, or to imply that there wouldn’t be a portion of the audience that wanted to see him back in the fold of WWE, but rather to point out that he was gone just long enough for the stain of the previous drek to fade from his career. I could be wrong, but I’d guess that he was released from the organization in 2024 with some level of assurance that he’d be brought back at some point in the future. As mentioned, it’s not as though he was extremely busy on the independent circuit, and outside of a dark match when an event was held where he lived, Corbin wasn’t on the radar of AEW either. The totality of his hiatus was more or less his work in MLW, which might’ve been a way to stay in ring shape more than anything else.
As mentioned, it’s not as though there was an organic demand for him to be back in WWE, which is a reflection of how he was booked prior, and the relatively short time he was on the independents, not that he can’t be a contributor to the product so in some ways, he has a fresh start within the WWE landscape. The upside of that is that he was a realistic chance to make another impression without the anchor around his neck of the way he was booked for the latter portions of Vince McMahon’s tenure as the boss. The downside is that the WWE main roster is full, the NXT roster is designed to develop talent to get to the main roster, and the Performance Center recruits athletes on a regular basis. In short, it’s going to be more difficult for Baron Corbin to stand out within the scope of the company now than it was previously.
Obviously, it depends on what he’s booked to do on the shows and if he can excel in those scenarios that will determine if he can boost his stock for this new chapter of his WWE career, but if nothing else, he was given a start strong for this return. He attacked Trick Williams, who is one of the more popular newer talents, and Carmelo Hayes, who was also spotlighted this year so he already has a direction on the blue brand. He already has new merchandise on the WWE Shop website.
I have to be honest, given the fact that the Corbin character has no cache, I’m somewhat surprised that he was re-signed by the company, but it might be an angle where the office hopes to use someone with substantial television experience to work with the younger talent, which makes sense. The biggest takeaway from this entire situation might be that TKO still has a role for veterans within the mid-card, but look for specific circumstances to utilize them. Sheamus was cut from the roster at 48, but Corbin is 41 and just got offered a new contract. The two decisions might not be related, but it’s definitely an interesting scenario when you take into account the generation of talent that have been asked to take a pay cut or released this year.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
