Baron Corbin Breaks His Silence On Why Partnership With JBL Didn't Last: "We All Just Wanted More..."

Baron Corbin Breaks His Silence On Why Partnership With JBL Didn't Last: "We All Just Wanted More..."

Former WWE Superstar Baron Corbin has reflected on his short-lived partnership with WWE Hall of Famer JBL, sharing his take on why he doesn't believe it worked out. He also looks back on "Bum Ass Corbin."

By JoshWilding - Nov 14, 2024 12:11 PM EST
Filed Under: WWE

When Baron Corbin was called up to NXT, he made an immediate splash by winning the Andre the Giant Memorable Battle Royal. However, once that character had run its course, WWE saddled him with the career-killing "Constable Corbin" persona.

Eventually, he'd ditch that by becoming King of the Ring. However, he'd later be repackaged again, this time as "Bum Ass Corbin," a down-on-his-luck version of the character who very quickly got over with fans. 

"There are some people in our world that would be like, ‘You want me to look like a bum and do what?! I'm a WWE Superstar!'" Corbin says. "I have no ego. ‘You want me to do that? Hell yeah, let's go. This is going to be fun. Let's turn it up to 12.’ That's something I've always learned from seeing it. How do you take what they give you and turn it into gold? And it's a lot of work. I mean, you have to fully commit."

His next evolution saw him become the less popular Happy Corbin, and WWE paired him with JBL in an attempt to give the former United States Champion a WWE Hall of Fame manager. The partnership didn't work out, leaving JBL to bury his new protégé on his way back to Bermuda following Corbin's embarrassing losing streak. 

"I can’t put my finger on why it struggled," Corbin admits reflecting on the ill-fated storyline. "I think the people, and John and myself, wanted more out of it. I wanted [JBL] to be able to decapitate a few people, and it’s a process of getting him back in the ring and getting him doing that. He just became like a mouthpiece for me in the introduction thing, where he would get the crowd all riled up for me."

"But I think we all just wanted a little bit more from that, and it just didn’t click. I’ll take the fall for it," he continued. "I’m happy to do that because JBL is one of the greatest of all time, and sometimes things just don’t click. It is what it is."

The decision was ultimately made to send Corbin back to NXT where he had a successful run as Bron Breakker's tag team partner. However, when he was called back up to the main roster, Corbin was paired with Apollo Crews and soon released when there was seemingly nothing left to do with him.

You can watch the full interview in the player below. 

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DevilsDreams
DevilsDreams - 11/15/2024, 5:04 AM
I still think the "Bum Ass Corbin" storyline was handled so badly! It could have been such a brilliant redemption arc that could have set him up as a remarkable face for the company, it seems like so many people have nothing but good things to say about his work ethic, his personality and how safe he was in the ring.

The JBL storyline turned into such a wasted opportunity too it feels.

If I was fantasy booking that one, I would have still had JBL drop Corbin, maybe in a slightly more spectacular way, with Farooq waiting in the wings. JBL dumps Corbin in the ring, as you cut to back stage, Corbin comes face to face with Farooq for that "DAMN" moment, before Farooq leads him away.
The next week we see Farooq, Corbin, maybe a couple of others having a drink backstage, playing some cards, just a brief segment, potentially a little "bar fight" as a heel playing with them loses.

After that, the following week or two we see Farooq and Corbin backstage again, this time a door in wooden frame is off to the side, we could have had a legend or another wrestler, who seems to be running from another wrestler earlier in the show, trying to avoid a beatdown, come in making a point to use the door, before begging Farooq for "protection"... Farooq obviously shrugs this off, saying those days are behind him, the wrestler asking for protection then offers up some money (or beer or both...), at which point Corbin's interest perks up, taking the money and getting the fearful wrestler to join them.

This could lead to a segway where Farooq points out Corbin can't do protection on his own, he needs someone to watch his back, this would lead to pairing up an up and coming powerhouse with Corbin maybe not Breaker, but certainly someone who could hold their own realistically.

Thus the new APA is born!

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