After over a decade in WWE, Baron Corbin has experienced his fair share of ups and downs. His career has seen Corbin go from being a world championship contender, to forgotten mid-carder, to comedy act, to something odd and in between. The most recent hot streak he hit came during his bankrupted, poor man gimmick who lost all of his wealth due to financial irresponsibility. This gimmick is fondly referred to by fans as "Bum Ass Corbin."
Now, Baron Corbin is in NXT in an attempt to bolster ratings for WWE's third brand and bring some momentum back to the Lone Wolf. The move couldn't have come at a better time; before he switched brands, WWE tried to have Baron Corbin team up with WWE Hall of Famer JBL. The pair never got off the ground and effectively left Corbin dead in the water.
Baron Corbin Says He Just Couldn't Make JBL Pairing Work
While speaking with Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick on WWE After the Bell, Corbin discussed his failed partnership with JBL and the opportunity to return to NXT. Fightful has provided the following transcription:
There was a sense of panic there for me because everything I had done up until then had worked. I made things work," he said. "I had one promo in my career where I was in the ring, in the middle of it, and I was going, 'there is nothing that is going to make this good. We're not saving it.' It was a segment with multiple people. I felt the crowd going, 'dude, this is not good.' You feel it in your gut. We got to the end of the JBL stuff, we were trying to make it work, I think there were a few things that went against us. Opportunity, timing, a few other things. You could feel it. I felt like I was in that movie where I was stuck in the middle of the ocean and waiting to be eaten by sharks. I was drowning, in a sense. That's when we had that conversation, 'What do we do?' That's when this NXT opportunity came up and I was like, 'Hell yeah. Let's go. Let's go down there and do this.'