Ahead of his finals match with Chad Gable, Baron Corbin spoke with Sports Illustrated. He opened up about being hated by the WWE Universe, explaining that his totally comfortable in the role.
He believes the fans dislike of him stems from his lack of experience in the independent scene before debuting in WWE’s development brand. Corbin compared his time playing Football to his experiences in WWE, explaining he received similar levels of hate because he came from Division II.
“I didn’t wrestle in the independents, I didn’t pay my dues the way people think you should in wrestling,” he said. “Someone like Seth Rollins, he wrestled in small gymnasiums for no money. I didn’t do that, but I’m still here—and none of those guys can do what I did. That absolutely fuels my ego.”
“I’ll always stand up for WWE,” Corbin added. “We have the best superstars in the world, and we have the best people helping. We have Triple H, Michael Hayes, Fit Finlay, and Vince McMahon. We’re the best in the world, and I’m willing to stand up for that. I hold what we do to anyone in the world, no matter if it’s another wrestling company or the MLB or the NFL.”
He continued, “We have no off-season, we’re on the road and sometimes doing the travel by ourselves. It’s a different grind. When I was in the NFL, it was all luxury team-owned planes and five-star hotels. We don’t have that, but we dominate the wrestling world and the entire sports world with some of the most talented and driven people I’ve ever been around.”
Baron Corbin emerged successful last night from his finals match against Gable to become the 2019 King of the Ring.
