Tom Pestock (Baron Corbin in WWE) tweeted last weekend about Rey Fenix’s situation with AEW. AEW added time to his deal for time missed due to injury. Fenix hasn’t been used since July.
If you sign a contract you honor it. Would it have been okay if Tony didn’t pay him while he was hurt or out of action? The answer is no bc Tony signed the contract as well. You can’t switch teams after getting what you want and signing the contract.
— Tom (@TomPestock) January 19, 2025
Pestock made an appearance on the latest episode of Insight With Chris Van Vliet. The following highlights were sent to us:
On his WWE exit:
“I wish it hadn’t ended like it did. I wish I had more opportunity to continue with this babyface thing. Nobody wants it to end, any job, it’s not fun. But it’s also exciting at the same time because now I can literally do whatever. I can try to create something new, I can go in different directions. I think the most frustrating part for me is not understanding why. There’s an ulterior motive there because, again, I’ve been a company guy through and through. I’ve never said no to doing something. I’ve made everything work that I’ve been given, not complained, have never once complained online. You can send me to talk to ESPN, you can send me to talk to Boys and Girls Club. I fit the mould of a professional. I dress professional. I show up professional. I don’t miss shows. 13 years never once missed a show or training or anything because of injury or being sick. Not once, not even COVID. I was a hero during COVID in my opinion, I was on every show, sometimes both shows. I’ve been a team player through and through. I think maybe in the end it hurt me a little bit always being the guy that’s like, yeah, no problem. Oh, you need Finn Balor the demon to beat me up in three minutes at SummerSlam? Okay, no problem, cool. So it was a weird place to be, but I think now, again that moment yesterday [at GCW], standing in between the two buildings, it’s pretty cool to go yeah man, I was here, now I’m here. How do we get back to there? Not necessarily WWE, but that level of accomplishment.”
On what’s next for him in wrestling:
“I would love to go to New Japan for multiple reasons, and the door never closes with WWE either. And as far as AEW, their fans, they like that AEW in a sense is its own entity and built from the ground up. If I went there, out of respect for that world I wouldn’t want to be just another WWE guy that came there because they left WWE. I would rather go and do New Japan for a year or more, who knows? Maybe that’s where I just love it and I stay there for the rest of my wrestling career. So if I ever did go that route, I would want to kind of clear that ‘Oh he’s just a WWE guy coming over.’ Baron Corbin is dead as far as we know, we’re dropping a new name, new moniker, new character. I love wrestling. I love the creativeness of it. I love the freedom. I love performing in front of an audience and getting that live feedback in the moment. There’s nothing better.”
On his new ring name:
“I’m letting it out right now, because I got to do me at the end of the day still. I’ve talked to you about I want to go here, I want to go here, I want to go here. I want to go to New Japan. TNA has called, so maybe there’s something there. Maybe NWA, I’m open to it all because I love wrestling, and if I can go somewhere and be in front of fans, I’m going to go. I just know that I don’t want to sign a contract right now because I like this ability. So I’m going with “The Nomad” Bishop Dyer, I’m gonna be The Nomad. I’m gonna roam. I’m gonna go change a little bit, because it kind of pays tribute to The Lone Wolf, Dire Wolf, and then a bishop is higher than a baron, so we’re going up. The rankings are going up. So it’s getting trademarked, so don’t even try it suckers, getting trademarked right now. But I think it’s just a powerful name, it’s a cool name, and I want to be The Nomad. I’m gonna float and see where the wrestling world takes me in that sense.”
On his comments regarding AEW contracts:
“I’m not saying that one side or the other side is correct. I’m just saying simply that’s how they work. I’ve signed NFL contracts. I’ve signed five WWE contracts. It’s the nature of the beast and it’s the same in any industry. They may not be the greatest contracts when you start out, they are unfair. You’re fighting an uphill battle sometimes in a contract. The music industry, 50% of your money is gone like that, it’s a contract, but you’re a band, you’re trying to make it. You got to do it, you got to sign the paper, and you got to get through it, and then you can kind of start to negotiate terms. It’s just one of those things. They’re there to protect both sides. Usually they benefit the person giving the contract a little bit more than they do the other side.”
“But at the end of the day, those people arguing over contracts. Number one, everybody that’s commenting on social media, including myself, we don’t know the inside thing that’s going on. There could be bad blood there. There could be things one side said to the other. Nobody has a clue except for those people in that small circle. So you can’t say one person is right, one person is wrong, because nobody actually knows the answer to that question. But what I do know is how contracts work and how unfair they may be. No one is forcing you to sign it ever. Every contract that’s ever been put in front of me, never been forced to sign.”
On if a WWE return could be possible:
“I think so. I don’t think it ever closes. I mean how many people, look at the roster now of guys. Cody, Drew, Punk. I mean Punk is the guy who said he would never, ever, ever, ever go back. Again, I hold no ill will towards WWE because I’m so thankful for everything they’ve ever given me. The opportunities to perform in front of millions of people on TV, in person, go to Boys and Girls Club, pull a plane for Special Olympics. There’s just so many cool things they do. I was a little bummed I didn’t get to be on Netflix. How cool is that? It’s such a really awesome thing, and things are changing there. I never thought I would see logos on the ring, because it’s been such a historic business of don’t change this, this is the history. We don’t mess with it.
“Hunter’s bringing a new light, a new vibe, a new energy and I think it’s going to bring new fans. You’re seeing celebrities. It’s not what it used to be where guys were like, ‘Are you a wrestling fan? Don’t let anybody hear me tell you but did you see Raw last night?’ Now it’s like this is cool, man. This is fun. Stars from [George] Kittle to all these people. [Patrick] Mahomes was at Raw, Bad Bunny is killing it. It’s not like, Hey, we’re bringing these guys in and they have no clue, we’re just gonna pay them to show up. Like, these are people who they know what they’re doing.”
