Thought Of The Day: Don’t Blame Baron Corbin

I was reading a rather scathing review of Raw and got to thinking.

So this week’s Monday Night Raw was a disaster. I don’t think that’s exactly a secret, but there were several bad parts to the whole thing. In addition to the horrible Drake Maverick segment, there’s one thing that stands out as a problem, but not for the same reason you might be thinking. That would be Baron Corbin.

This week, Corbin was all over the show. He was in the opening segment, he did a bunch of stuff throughout the show, and then he was in the main event. That’s a lot of screen time for someone who isn’t exactly thrilling. He’s just the latest middle management villain, and that’s not a good role for him. Corbin is about 6’6 with a good look and a power offense. Why is his biggest weapon the threat of a phone call to Stephanie McMahon? A middle management lackey isn’t the place for someone like Corbin. That’s the kind of role someone like Curt Hawkins or Aiden English or someone not exactly intimidating.

Now, for the bigger thing though, and this is where a lot of people forget the problem: Corbin is still pretty new at this. Corbin made his debut back in October 2012. That’s about six years ago, and now he’s arguably the top heel on Raw. Keep in mind that’s not six yeas into his WWE career. That’s six years after he started training, a lot of which was spent down in NXT. To go from the very small atmosphere of NXT to the biggest wrestling TV show in the world is more than a jump. It’s a flying leap and Corbin hasn’t established himself as that kind of a star yet.

In other words, Corbin (and SO many others from NXT) need more time before they start getting this kind of a push. That’s not a knock on the talent in the slightest. These people (including Corbin) go from basically wrestling school and some very low level indies to NXT and then the main roster in the span of about three years (Corbin’s main roster debut was in April of 2016, less than four years after he debuted).

Six years into his career, Steve Austin was just debuting as the Ringmaster. Six years into his career, Shawn Michaels was part of the Rockers. Six years into his career, the Undertaker was Mean Mark Callous. Do any of these people sound like they were ready to be the focal point of the show and headlining a pay per view just yet? Of course not, because that takes a VERY special kind of wrestler and there aren’t many who are ready for that spot.

Corbin, and a lot of other people, have the physical skills to be in these spots. However, there’s a big, big difference between knowing what to do and knowing how to do it. Corbin has very little seasoning and experience at or even near this level. He’s learning on the job and that can make for a rough patch. It doesn’t help that he’s completely miscast in his role and is doing the best he can with some horrible booking choices.

In short: WWE is trying to build a house on a foundation where the cement isn’t dry yet and it’s collapsing (Note that I completely lifted that line from Tazz, who had an incredible rant about this week’s Raw which got me thinking about this. Check that out here.).

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