WWE star Baron Corbin appeared on Corey Graves’ “After The Bell” podcast this week. Corbin recently dropped the Happy Corbin comedy gimmick and is back in NXT under the Lone Wolf character.
Baron Corbin talking about going to NXT:
“I have been a free agent for a little bit now so I’ve had the opportunity to go to a few different brands. I did a couple of RAW episodes and a couple of SmackDowns. I was asked about an opportunity to go to NXT and I saw that as a place where I can make some changes in myself and my career. That was a plan going in and I think it’s been a successful execution of that plan so far.”
“I got down there with HBK, who is obviously one of the greatest of all time, but he also has this unbelievable mind and how to do it. He’s also doing what I love most is he’s kind of hands off. He is letting me do me in a sense, and then sculpting what I bring to him versus handing me, ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing. This is where you’re going. This is where we want you to be.’ He’s going, ‘Hey man. You’ve been around the block. What do you want to do? Where do you want to take this? What can we do for you in a sense of creative outlets and opportunities’, and he’s letting me kind of take the ball and run with it a little bit.”
On advice John Cena gave him early in his WWE career:
“When I came to WWE, I had a lot of conversations with John Cena and he’s a guy that will give you the truth no matter what. There’s few people in this business who will do that. John will tell you that sucks. You’re not good enough for that. That wasn’t great, or that was awesome. That was a great job. But he was a guy who I have had conversations with at length in the gym when I was coming up a little bit and getting on the main roster. Two things that he’s really preached to me is always thinking about what’s next. Where do you go after the show tomorrow, and a lot of guys don’t do that. Like when I had a match with him at SummerSlam. He’s like, ‘Think about Monday night. We’re going to do what we do at SummerSlam, but what are you doing Monday night, so always have a few steps ahead.’ So I always try to think of that.”
“Then the other thing that really stuck with me that John has preached which I think has helped my career immensely is how do you take what you’re given and make it the absolute best you can? That process he goes through, when he’s handed a promo, okay, I see what you want, and you want this exactly like this. Okay, how do I make it the best I can absolutely make it’, and it’s kind of one of those things, you see a challenge and we all get promos, we all get opportunities, we all get things that we may or may not want to do. How do I make it stand out? How do I make it amazing? How do I take this and turn it into gold? I think Sad Corbin is the prime example of that. When Vince tasked me with that, I saw it as an opportunity to change, show character work, and just to add another level to my body of work. It was only supposed to be like a two week thing and it ended up running for months because I went all in.”
On who caught his eye in NXT:
“The two main guys that caught my eye out the gate were, I’ve already been in the ring with, was Ilja. I think he’s a special, special competitor. He is physical. I mean, him and I beat the crap out of each other and it felt good. Like, it’s good to lay somebody across the face or, you know, a good solid forearm to the jugular, or slam them down as hard as you can and you see them kind of half-smile in pain. There’s something to that. There’s a grit, and that elevates everybody to get in there and get with a guy who is ready to go to war and Ilja is one of those competitors. He is special. He is confident. We talked about confidence. He believes it, man. He has a special in-ring ability and he can gather sympathy and he is aggressive and he’s violent and I love it.”
“Melo, I think, is another special competitor. He’s finding himself extremely well down there. He has that talk, that swagger, and then he’s smooth and the ring, man. I beat the crap out of him. I put him through the wringer and he survived and he came out on top and that was awesome for him and I think that’s a notch in his belt. He looked great in there against Finn Balor on Monday Night Raw. The kid has talent.”
“I think Bron Breakker is another guy who’s just, I mean, the dude is just rough and has no regard for anybody but himself, which is great, because you need that. That’s where I’m taking myself. I’m back to like, I played the game, man. I’m over it. I’m over being people I’m not. I’m over the internet going, ‘Oh, man. He’s a safe, solid, trustworthy, dependable guy. That’s why he gets these things.’ We’re not going there anymore, man. My goal is to rip people’s heads off and I think that’s what he walks into the ring wanting to do as well.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit After The Bell with Corey Graves with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
