Baron Corbin didn’t want to become stagnant, and now he’s flourishing in NXT.
WrestleZone spoke with Baron Corbin about his return to NXT. One of his matches saw him face Gable Steveson at the NXT Great American Bash in July. Corbin says he wasn’t expecting the “favorable” reaction he got during the event, and it was an interesting environment for him.
“No [I didn’t expect that], especially with all the things I’m doing now. The new stuff, the new character, if you will. It’s not even a character. I’m just doing me,” he pointed out, “So I had no idea the reaction [would go that way].
“I assumed [Gable Steveson] being an Olympic gold medalist, he was going to get this massive ‘USA’ [chant]. We’re in Texas, they obviously love the US and are passionate about it. So, I was like, ‘Man, they’re going to be excited to see him,’ and they were not,” Corbin said. “They booed him pretty hard, and they were cheering for me. So, it was a weird flip that I was not expecting, that’s for sure.”
Prior to his return to NXT, Baron Corbin teased combining all of his past gimmicks and finding some magic in a new direction. However, his current NXT persona isn’t really much of a gimmick, and he says it’s more grounded and close to his real-life persona.
Corbin says he wanted to strip everything away because characters have a shelf life. He wanted a more natural persona to tap into, and it’s working out.
“No, I think it was definitely get rid of it all. My time here in WWE has been a massive roller coaster. I’ve been up top, I’ve been at the bottom, I’ve been in the middle. And I think that the last couple of characters were such characters that the shelf life was tough to keep those going. I think we made the most out of them. But when you look at Happy Corbin, you only do that so long until it just becomes stagnant,” he explained, “And I didn’t want to become stagnant.
“So, I’m taking in my experience and my time in the ring and the things I’ve learned from superstars like Roman, like Seth, like Kurt, like Cena, and take that and kind of just build an organic, natural version of me for people to see,” Corbin said. “The stuff I’m doing now in the ring, that is me. The attitude, a little bit of the ego, all of those things, they’re just letting me be 100% organic and authentic.”
Baron Corbin will face off with Bron Breakker at NXT No Mercy on September 30.
Watch our full interview with Baron Corbin below:
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