Baron Corbin is ready to be selfish.
The former WWE United States Champion headlined NXT Deadline in a NXT Championship match against Ilja Dragunov. The match came as the latest step in Corbin’s resurgence in NXT.
During a recent interview with Sam Roberts of Notsam Wrestling that was recorded before Deadline, Corbin opened up about choosing to move to NXT knowing there’s a risk of being “forgotten about” by main roster viewers.
“For sure because, man, you know how quick this business moves,” Corbin said. “You’re like, ‘I don’t want them to forget about me,’ and then you go, ‘Well, if I’m doing something real kick-ass, it’s going to be impossible for them [to forget me]. So you’re betting on yourself a little bit. That’s what I was talking to Shawn and [Johnny] Russo, I’m like, ‘Hey, man, how do we fix this?’ He texted Hunter and Hunter’s like, ‘Yeah, do it, man. Go.’
“And I feel like we’ve been rocking and I feel like I’ve been doing the best stuff I’ve done my whole career right now. The promo with Ilja on Tuesday, to me, I felt like I was spitting fire. I felt every second of that and it was such a good feeling. And also what’s awesome about being there right now is when I give them ideas, they run with it. Whether it’s a video package, or an entrance, or the song, or how I carry myself, or what I’m wearing to the ring. I’m picking what I want to wear. It’s a cool, motivating feeling and it has relit this feeling in me that I needed. And I think it was the best thing for me.”
Roberts then pointed out Corbin’s character work in recent months and how he tapped into Dragunov’s vulnerabilities as of late.
“Absolutely. I’m gonna pick at it, for sure,” Corbin said. “I’m gonna push you, and it’s one of those things too because I have a different mindset. My mindset has drastically changed over the last four months of being here in so many different ways. In the way that I look at the main roster, the way I look at myself, my career, my character and what I’m doing in the ring.
“It was kind of that philosophy, ‘Ilja’s the man.’ There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He’s a future world champion in my eyes. He is one of the best in-ring performers, he’s great on the mic, he looks great. He has a charisma that’s awesome and I go, ‘You know what, I’m gonna put him to the test and he’s either gonna hang or he’s gonna get run over.’ “
Baron Corbin Wants To Maximize His Time
Baron Corbin went on to describe how he intends to be more selfish because he wants to make the most of his time left as an active performer.
“That’s the new philosophy is I’m going to be, in a sense, more selfish for my things. Because I’ve spent years doing everything I can to help other people,” Baron Corin said. “‘How can I get this dude to the next level? How can I make him the best main event star to watch him go and perform at SummerSlam?’ There was a turning point a few times in the career where I’m running with Seth Rollins for six, seven months. We’re putting out awesome stuff. And then he goes on to face Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, and I’m sitting in the hotel room in Toronto. That hurt. That legitimately hurt, dude.
“And so I was still like, ‘Hey, best for business,’ like I get what I’m doing. I’m doing a great job building. But now it’s like I’m in a point hopefully where I’ve got a few, four or five good years left of rocking and rolling. So I want to maximize them. So if I have to be a little bit more selfish, I will. That was part of that promo. I was gonna test Ilja and say, ‘Man, you want to do this, let’s go, and you’re either gonna get run over or like I said, you’re going to hang.’ And people are gonna be like, ‘Damn, that was good.’ I think that’s the response it got.”
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If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Notsam Wrestling with a h/t to WrestleZone for the transcription.
