PWInsider.com is reporting they were told Baron Corbin’s halted push was a result of an incident outside of the ring, not because of heat with John Cena or other reasons that were recently reported.
Last week, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted Corbin’s de-push was due to a non-wrestling related incident, and the PWInsider.com report backs this up with more details about a recent backstage meeting with Corbin and Dr. Joseph Maroon during a recent talent meeting.
Maroon, one of the leading doctors in concussion and CTE injury studies, as well as WWE’s Medical Director, was discussing concussion related injuries during a talent meeting and reportedly described a CTE study in NFL players in a way that “downplayed” proof that football players would develop CTE. Corbin, who is a former football player, was said to cut Maroon off to express his opinion on the matter, challenging Maroon’s comments in addition to saying he was part of a concussion related lawsuit against the NFL, he knew Maroon was against CTE. Maroon replied and referenced the Will Smith film Concussion, telling Corbin that depiction was incorrect, as the film portrayed Maroon as being pro-NFL instead of pro-player like Smith’s character, Dr. Bennet Omalu.
Maroon tried to clarify his past comments to Corbin, and the two had a back and forth discussion for several minute,s but the whole situation was described to PWInsider as being awkward, and was “an awkward moment that led to awkward laughter” according to several sources at the meeting. It was noted that Corbin’s comments were just made at the wrong time, and he wasn’t yelling or out of line, but he would have been better positioned to speak with Maroon privately instead of disrupting the meeting.
PWInsider.com noted that while they were told some people were impressed with Corbin speaking up, it was generally believed this incident led to halting his push, if anything, and not any other incident reported.
While Corbin did lose his Money In The Bank briefcase, and lost to John Cena at Summerslam, he looks to be on the verge of a United States Championship feud with AJ Styles.
