A former American Football player, playing at both college and NFL levels. A lean 6ft 8in and weighing just over 300lbs. A menacing dude that would be a scary guy to run into on the street. If trouble was brewing in your neighbourhood, you’d breathe a lot easier knowing that someone like this had your back. He has the means to be everything that Vince McMahon would want in a top star. This would not be a star with the character of someone like John Cena. Your next top star will look and act nothing like John Cena, despite what some people might think. Baron Corbin has the means to be the next best badass heel, who beats everyone’s arses and cares little for anyone but himself. In a roster that is as depleted in main event heels as this roster is, Vince McMahon should be doing whatever it takes to protect this guy and making sure that he comes off as a legitimate star in the eyes of the viewers.
If you saw Baron Corbin in NXT or Breaking Ground, it’s clearly stated that this guy is supposed to be the real deal. He was not the most liked character in the developmental centre. When considering Corbin’s background and comparing it to the likes of Finn Balor and Sami Zayn, who have wrestled all around the world and “paid their dues”, he was never going to rank highly in the likeable category. What he ranks highly in though is intimidation. What he ranks highly in is character engagement. No matter what he does, you would have some sort of reaction for Baron Corbin. As much as he’s not like John Cena in terms of character, he’s similar in the sense that he gets a reaction no matter what he’s doing. That should be justification enough for WWE to go the extra mile with him.
At first, it sort of seemed that they would. Having been protected in NXT, he was thrown onto the main roster and conquered the third ever Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania. For a NXT star making his debut, he had quite the accomplishment to his name already. On RAW, he established himself as someone who cares more about beating people up than winning matches. I’d been hugely against the philosophy of wins and losses meaning nothing in WWE, but I initially gave Baron the benefit of the doubt. Even if he was purposely getting himself counted out just to kill Dolph Ziggler for example, he still showed dominance in these segments. When Corbin was wrestling Zack Ryder on RAW and he took the time during his match to beat up Ziggler on commentary, it made Corbin look great. He was beating up whoever he saw fit, without looking out of control or weak. For now, it was a great way to get him over. Then Payback happened…
Due to timing restraints, Ziggler vs Corbin was bumped to the pre-show. It did annoy me to see Corbin’s match being cut due to timing restraints but what was worse was the result of that match. Ziggler defeated Corbin clean in the middle. I don’t want to throw a tantrum whenever someone that should be pushed loses a match clean. At the end of the day, everyone in wrestling loses a match. Even the likes of Goldberg, Andre The Giant and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar lost matches in the WWE. The thing is, if you’re debuting a new star, you have to at least try to convince people that this man is the real deal. After losing this match, Corbin no longer stands out as he should. He’s now in the same realm as every other mid-carder in WWE.
On RAW, during the United States Championship number one contendership battle royal, it got worse. A month or so after winning a “huge” battle royal at WrestleMania, he was one of the first people eliminated by Dolph Ziggler. The man that outlasted the likes of Big Show, Mark Henry and Kane at WrestleMania was not able to outlast the likes of Bo Dallas and Zack Ryder in this battle royal on RAW!
The headline of this article talked about Baron Corbin’s “long road” to the top. The reason I say “long road” is because if WWE continue to make Corbin look like everyone else on the roster, he’s got little hope of getting over to the level that he is capable of. He no longer looks like a big deal, he no longer stands out in the eyes of the viewers and he no longer has the credibility to match his hype. All of a sudden, that big battle royal victory at WrestleMania seems like a waste as you’ve made it seem like Corbin just scored a fluke victory at WrestleMania. It’s going to be a long road ahead for Baron Corbin, unless he gets a winning streak going and starts to be treated differently in the booking department. Otherwise, it’ll be the end of his days before he gets the opportunity to stand out as the lone wolf.
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