Baron Corbin Opens Up About His Backstage Heat in WWE

Since his days in NXT, Baron Corbin has been attached to a questionable backstage reputation. [...]

Since his days in NXT, Baron Corbin has been attached to a questionable backstage reputation. However, Raw's interim General Manager isn't too concerned about making friends in the locker room, rather choosing to lean into his negative perception.

During an interview on Booker T's podcast, Heated Conversations, Corbin addressed the resistance he's felt and arguably perpetuated behind WWE's curtain.

"100%, but I think that's anything in any competitive business whether it's UFC, the NFL, or WWE. It's a competitive business and everybody wants to be the best. And when there's a new guy coming in and there's buzz about him, 'oh, he was a pro football player,' you instantly have people that don't like you because they're afraid you're going to take their spot." Corbin joked, "of course, I poured salt on the wound saying, 'yeah, I'm going to take it – I get paid more than you and I'm better than you.'

Given his size and NFL background, Corbin didn't spend much time in NXT. This drew the ire of fans and wrestlers alike, but as he mentions, it never really bothered him.

Corbin joined WWE in 2012 and made his main roster debut at WrestleMania 32 where he won't the Andre The Giant Battle Royal. Since being promoted from NXT, Corbin was rumored to be a priority for Vince McMahon. While his push has been sporadic, he still keeps an enviable role on WWE television.

While wrestling is still mostly new to him, Corbin can't help but compare his WWE career to his NFL past.

"It's definitely a transition. I think it's the physicality because I'm a physical person and I think sometimes we can get ahead of ourselves, but I think I've done a very good job of transitioning because I've had guys that have complimented me, 'you're good to work with because you're not killing me' type of thing. I think the hardest thing for a pro athlete trying to transition, growing up playing football and fighting and stuff like that, you're always told, 'hey, don't show your emotion, never show emotion, don't show you're hurt, don't show you're tired, don't show any of that to your opponent' and now our entire industry is emotion and getting people to feel what we're feeling," said Corbin. "I think that gets lost on a lot of guys that try to come over from professional sports, is finding that emotion. It took me a while and it's hard."

[H/T Wrestling Inc]

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