A former WWE star believed that their time on the main roster was set to be extremely short-lived following a spot that went wrong during a match with John Cena.
A few months after being called up to the main roster in 2016, Baron Corbin found himself competing in a six-pack challenge on SmackDown with an opportunity at the WWE Championship on the line. Sharing the ring with Cena for the first time and booked in a prominent match, Corbin was hoping that he could impress the fans and also put in a good performance while facing off against the biggest star in the company. Unfortunately for Corbin, a misplaced shot appeared to spell disaster and could have signalled a return to NXT just months after the call-up.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Baron Corbin first recalled the backstory of the incident and how Bray Wyatt allegedly was sent back to NXT for poking Cena in the eye:
“I will start with the backstory of it. So when Nexus was up on television Bray Wyatt was not Bray Wyatt. He was Husky Harris, we’re going back here. There is a rumour that I believe is 100% true that Husky poked John Cena in the eye in a match. Vince was so mad, Cena was so mad that they sent Husky Harris back to NXT. We’re all grateful for that because Bray Wyatt was born.
So this whole rumour of Cena has been poked in the eye a couple of times and it sent Bray back to NXT for two and a half years, this was a massive punishment for that. So fast forward to this six man, and I’d only been on the main roster [a short amount of time]. I still had hair, we’re going way back. Still had the long, beautiful locks.”
Continuing, Corbin stated that very early on in the match he also accidentally poked Cena in the eye, which was followed by an expletive-filled tirade from the 16-time World Champion:
“It’s the beginning of the match, the match starts, this is my first big match. We got a lot of crazy spots. There’s a lot of cool stuff. I’m supposed to attack Cena, I drive Cena to the corner, put him in the corner, and I wind back to throw a body shot and my thumb lands about knuckle deep in his eye, and I’m like oh no! And he starts cussing ‘You motherf*cker!’ He’s dropping F-bombs, we’re talking first 20 rows are hearing this he’s going, ‘You motherf*cker! You poked me in the motherf*cking eye, What the f*ck!?’ I mean, he’s laying it in on me.
I’ve got my back to him at this point and I’m hearing all of this, I’m literally about to start crying, because I’m finally on the main roster. I’m up here, now I’m going back to NXT! Because this whole thing of Bray poking him in the eye I’m going dude, I’m going back to NXT without a doubt, I’m so screwed. I don’t want to go back to NXT. I’m so sad but I know I have to turn around to John for the next spot, and he’s still mother-effing me up and down.
I was just like, can we rewind life like five minutes? Let me start over, all of these things, and then we’re on live television, and these are all going through my head. The audience is even like, I can see in their eyes, they’re like John Cena is cussing, he’s going ape sh*t on Corbin. Finally I have to turn around because this is the time, I’m delaying this as long as I can possibly turn.
I turn and John punches me dead in the face. It was a solid potato. I wore it, and I was like cool. Then for the rest of the match I’m trying to remember these spots, but I’m trying not to cry, because I’m like I’m going back to NXT. I just got out of there. Just the range of emotions I’m going through for the rest of that match. I’m just like, dude. I’ve walked through the curtain so dejected, and they’re like, that was amazing. And I’m just head down in the corner like it’s over for me, man.”
Baron Corbin Apologises To John Cena
Concluding the story, Corbin recalled being extremely apologetic when they got to the back, only for Cena to respond that there was no ill will as he also got a return shot in:
“John comes back, and I just look at him, puppy dog eyes. He’s like, ‘Hey, that was great.’ I go, ‘John I am so sorry.’ He goes, ‘Oh, we’re good. I gave you it back. We’re good.’ And I was like, Wait, this is gotta be at work. He’s lying to me. I’m gonna walk out this curtain and they’re gonna like, we need you to get your bags. You’re going back to NXT. But that was the end of it. I was good.
But I legit thought my life was over. I was like, This is it because I poked John Cena in the eye and he mother effed me up and down. The whole match I’m panicking trying to remember stuff. And I walked through the curtain, he’s like, Oh no, we’re good.”
Now no longer in WWE, Baron Corbin explained why he has no desire to join AEW right now.
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