When Baron Corbin first debuted in WWE NXT, he was known as a dominant force, beating opponents with ease as he portrayed a Lone Wolf persona.
He continued as the Lone Wolf for some time following his main roster debut, but after moving to Raw in 2018, he became Constable Corbin, acting as a representative for Stephanie McMahon. He even replaced Kurt Angle in the General Manager role before retiring Angle at WrestleMania 35.
In recent years, however, Corbin has turned to the comedic side, winning King of the Ring to become King Corbin before losing his fortune and his crown to Shinsuke Nakamura. He became Happy Corbin when his luck improved following a huge storyline gambling win, and he’s now gone back to using Baron Corbin as his name after being kicked to the curb by JBL after a brief alliance.
Speaking in a recent interview with Catch Club, Corbin spoke about the evolution of his career, saying that his original Lone Wolf character was the closest to who he is in real life.
“Lone Wolf, that was my attitude. Rock and roll, I rode a motorcycle, I’m tattooed, I live that lifestyle. That was a very natural role for me.
“Then, stepping into the ‘Constable’ role, it was a big-time change. I had to go from a guy who’s known for just being athletic and wrestling, and I had to really master the promo. I had to open Raw with a six-minute monologue by myself. That’s hard to do. I had to really learn that, so I loved the ‘Constable’ phase because it got me extremely comfortable with a microphone in front of the audience to convey emotion, to convey whatever story I’m trying to tell to these people, and put that emotion behind it.
“I love the King Corbin gimmick; I thought that was just so fun. That was the first time I really felt like okay, ‘I’m putting on an outfit and becoming a character.’ I had the crown, I had the big coat, and the way I carried myself.”
Corbin also told Catch Club that while he was only supposed to be “Sad Corbin” for a short period of time, the character blossomed when fans connected to it.
“I’ve Given Everybody Every Emotion” – Baron Corbin On His Various WWE Gimmicks
Continuing, Baron Corbin said that while he’d love to go back to the Lone Wolf gimmick, he wants to combine all aspects of his previous personas to add depth to his character. He pointed particularly to Roman Reigns as an example of someone with many layers to his on-screen presentation.
“I would love to get back to that grittiness of ‘The Lone Wolf,’ but makes a little bit of everything in it. ‘The Lone Wolf was a little one-dimensional. It didn’t have all that mentions that I think you need to be a John Cena or a Roman Reigns. “Roman Reigns can take you from him being just a big bully to you can see the frustration or the sadness or when he feels like the table is crumbling. He can take you through all those emotions; I think that’s what you need to have a successful character.
“So when I’ve gotten these different characters through the time, they’ve all been very different. It’s been the tough guy badass if you will, then it was the ‘rule-follower.’ Nose up, ‘I’m better than everybody’ with Constable. Then ‘The King,’ it was the power. It was the grace. It was all things. Then sad Corbin was full of different emotions that people got to experience, and then into Happy Corbin. So like, I’ve given everybody every emotion now. Let’s combine them all, put them into one thing, and make some magic.”
Baron Corbin last competed on WWE television on the March 31st episode of SmackDown, participating in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal that was eventually won by Bobby Lashley. On the May 5th episode of SmackDown, he came face to face with Cameron Grimes, who had fortune of his own during his NXT career and was drafted to the blue brand as part of the WWE Draft.
h/t Fightful