Baron Corbin
 

I have noticed that he is a very divisive individual on this board..... so let's settle the score once and for all.

Yay or Nay

Yay. Corbin rules.

ATM, nay. He has the ability to grow though. Just isn't there yet.

I vote "Yay".

One of my current "dream feuds" is Randy Orton vs. Baron Corbin...... RKO vs. End of Days, etc......

I feel this will be 66% yet. The announcers have been building him up very well and his beatdown on Dean tonight was impressiv. But I just find him so boring.

Yay. I think he has it. People mistake boring for cool, calm and collected. He's the kind of person who has to stay in control or he'll do something he'll regret.

Nay, with qualifiers.

While I have no real problem with Baron, and *really* actually hope he "makes it", he has never really shown the talent equal to the presentation they have put into him from jump, even in NXT (anything longer than a squash exposed him). He has slowly improved- from drizzling shits to mildly palatable. His matches are boring, his promos are meh, and he overall seems like he doesn't care. And I don't mean in an 'amoral character portrayal' way; I mean he seems like he doesn't want to be there most of the time, but he gets paid way too well to quit. Hopefully, he will continue to improve. However, from day one, he has been pushed for simply being tall and having "command presence"... but at least they didn't try to heap the whole company on the guy from the get go.

He has the potential to be there one day, but today is not that day.

I like Corbin. Would like to see them embrace the motorcycle more in to his gimmick. Like a hipster American badass type is what I'm envisioning. Makes for a good mid card heel at the moment and him and Ambrose could have a good program.

Definitely YAY.

Great dark charisma. Great in-ring ability, especially for a big man. Great move set. Believable character. Everything about him is yay.

Here's hoping for an IC win at Mania.

Nay. The dude just doesn't have an intimidating enough look or voice to pull off the gimmick he's been given. Looks like some punk frat boy playing biker.

That said I think he does have some form of talent, but the gimmick he's working with just isn't right for him, and he needs someone to seriously help him with his look because good god he looks goofy as fuck.

7.4/10 - needs more beard.

Fuck a binary choice? I can't choose anything to 100% now. We need more choices.

He's no Chuck Palumbo

He's improved a bunch since NXT, and his beatdown on Dean last night was good.

But he bores the shit outta me. I think it'd help if he'd say fewer words. I don't know. I want to like him, but for now I say nay.

Sorry but I don't remember him...:shifty:

I vote "yay".

I'm saying Yay, he's getting to a point where he can be dependable to be entertaining.

Love entrance - both music and badass tron
Love deep six
Love end of days

And to be honest, I like his look, he is naturally grungy/evil looking and i dig it. Definitely my current favorite on SD Live, along with AJ.

And last night showed a guy progressing. It was a great showing. I think if he ups the aggression and really gets more volatile and a bit darker with the whole lone wolf thing, they are onto a winner.

So many failures from NXT, I think he is doing really well so far and he has been built really well up to this point.

An IC title win is a great next step.

I think the naysayers are focussing on his poor mic skills, but he is improving in the ring constantly and last night was a great showing. He looked unstoppable. He is a big dude and he has great agility and a moveset I mark for. Definitely more positives than negatives.

Lone Wolf Baron Corbin ONLY

I buy his character just wish he was a better talker. If he can improve in that then I can get behind him.
Wish he wouldn't do any poses on the ramp, doesn't seem to fit him.

Nay. But a soft nay.

We line up pretty good.

I dind't see the match tonight and haven't seen much so I can't take a HARD line but I've seen enough to know he wore his own branded t-shirt during the royal rumble and I couldn't take him seriously.

And he's also bland as all hell.

I'm happy Ambrose has something for Mania. I know he's not had a great past year performance wise (though I mean he's had some great stuff, just a lot of MEH with the poor booking) but he's a guy who's toiled around for years and deserves to be consistently featured even if he's not a TOP GUY.

He's on the articulate side. He's not a colorful personality - his persona is much more lone-wolf-esque. But he speaks well and sounds like a thinker. I think it works well for him.

Easy Yay. One of the best pure talents to come out of NXT.

I think a few shots of whiskey would calm his nerves before a promo.

More like Baron Borinc, right?

Yay.

Promo quality is still a big weakness but he's been slowly improving overall since his call-up.

He's currently in the right spot as a mid-carder to upper mid-carder. Has the potential to become a legit main eventer for the brand with another year or two worth of development.

I find myself agreeing with this. I can see what the WWE sees in him. Once upon a time, The Undertaker would have given off similar vibes, I imagine. They just haven't found a presentation that isn't "look how boring I am."

That being said, he's not my cup of tea. He's functional. Like a Bradshaw, only not as good at talking. He's a legitimate athlete, but they need him to wrestle in a shirt because his belly-button makes it look like he has the Gruffalo living inside him. They need to work out some attire that covers him up but doesn't make him appear lanky. Weird as this sounds, I also think he should be a babyface so he can be led through matches by veterans. You just have to find notes that he can connect on. Jericho vs. Corbin would be a great feud once they are done with him vs. Owens.

Corbin needs to shoot vignettes of him at a bar shooting philosophical with guys before someone comes in and is mean to a lady and Corbin steps up and shoves a pool cue up their ass and whispers "Get out of here before I give you The End of Days through this table" and they run off and the lady is like "Please make out with me Baron" and he's all "...No, I've got stuff to do" before he takes his leather jacket and rides his motorcycle off into the night.

Baron is a presentation and a finisher in between those two things he's just so vanilla.

I can see why they like him but still he's so blah

I'll say yay but ease into him talking.

He does get little things and thats great like when DB sarcastically asked him on SD not to punch Miz in the face Corbin turns really menacingly and walks toward Miz a bit that was awesome.

He needs a manager.

Perhaps an advocate...?

Nay.

Lacks any charisma and the lack of reaction when he comes out is showing how little he is managing to connect to the audience.

In the ring, he isn't bad, but he isn't good either. He can put on a passable match but has never done anything exciting.

He is basically a return to the bad old days of wrestlers being pushed to the hill just for being big. He has nothing special and given how many people lower down the card, in NXT and elsewhere do have talent, he is just a waste of a spot.

Sorry Baron.

lets see how far he goes

I get the feeling he will be pushed for a while, eventually they'll realise he isn't getting over and crash down the card.

My prediction: post-Wrestlemania release 2019.

Then again, they've still not given up on Reigns....

Reigns would get over as a heel. WWE just refuses to do this because it might hurt his merch sales amongst the kids. (My speculation.)

Baron is already a heel. And he is getting crowd reaction... I have no doubt he'll get over.

Who has led the company during a growth period. So hopefully Corbin is similarly successful.

OoohhhhHHHHHHhhhhhh... okay, I get it.


But he definitely is no Scott Norton.

No one is Scott Norton. Except Scott Norton.

And Chuck Norris.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VXL4IoX3gT4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Correlation is not causation.

Nay. The guy has 14 strands of hair and insists on keeping it long. Not much charisma, too scrawny to be a "typical big man," too big and not seasoned enough to be a "good worker".... If he were to be released, I would not miss him slightly....

The Fives speaks some importance. :love:

You have valid argument's however aside from his receding hairline, his charisma I disagree with. It's true heel charisma, you can't cheer this guy, he's a fucking dick and that bleeds through the screen to me. We need real heels and I feel that he's perfect for that role. Plus he has started to physically have real dynamic intensity about his work that I find believable for a WWE main eventer. He's only improving I think.

Not would I claim he's directly responsible for all the WWEs recent success, but he has to get some credit for carrying the company while Cena has been hurt and doing outside projects. If the fans were really against him in a top spot, they would likely reject the product. So even if you don't want to say he's solely responsible for the upward trends, he's at least part of the equation of success, for which he deserves credit. And if you're looking for a new star, you would want them to contribute to success in a similar manner to what Roman has.

He's got the best finish, maybe since the RKO.

Baron Corbin is excellent.

I actually don't understand the negativity. I think he is great and something new and fresh is always welcome.

Totally agree with Cynick about End of Days too.

Entrance took a while to come together, but whole package is prob my favourite in the fed right now.

His 14 strands make him look different and help his unique look. He is finding himself and he is definitely one of the biggest reasons I like Smackdown.

But I guess that's why booking is so hard in general...A small cross section of fans on here and there is rarely ever a uniform opinion.

Hence my current dream feud of Corbin/Orton

Unique doesn't necessarily equal good. His hair is absolutely disgusting looking.

Fives also brought up a good point about the rest of his look. He's tall, but nothing else about him is intimidating or even decent.

People always complain about a lot of the cruiserweights and others looking like "average Joes" but I never hear them complaining about Corbin on that front.

I can honestly say that I see guys like him on a regular basis around the local college campus. Tall guys who were good at sports in high school but that's about it. That's not the look of a world class wrestler.

Now, look isn't everything of course, but Corbin is lacking too much in other areas to make up for it.

I will say I am a fan of the Deep Six. Would be awesome to see him put someone THROUGH A TABLE with it.

Honestly I think he'd be better off using the deep-six as his finisher. It looks way more devastating IMHO.

His hair wouldn't look as bad if he didn't slick it back. His hair has got way thin since joining WWE though.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...PiGz_QHwAvbkVA

Was a lot thicker then, kind of looks like Mike Awesome a bit. Looks like Husky Haris with short hair though.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...i5b_THFfU-MXwLhttps://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...MJ9MA7mGUjbdpg

Yay.

Working with guys like Kalisto, Ziggler and Crews has been great for him.

Feels like he's improving every week and the Ambrose feud should add to that

I'm also not a big fan of The End of Days. It feels like a indy finisher. "Look how unnecessarily cool my finish is." I will say kudos to him only ever fucking it up once to my memory.

Everyone who says nay is wrong.

That would be a dream program. Great way to establish Corbin.

You probably said the same thing the first time you saw the stunner.

Nope. Wrong again. For someone who claims to be a genius, you sure fuck up a lot.

Meh. The hair/chin strap beard is a big factor in his look. I thought for a second he'd dyed the front until I realised it has just his scalp showing through. The normal go to would be shave his head but with that awful beard I think he'd look worse.

I really do feel like people are being picky about his look tbh.

Dean Ambrose has a way worse look, including balding, weird longish hair and street clothes that don't even have the added personality of Corbin's, and I don't see too much complaining about that.

He didn't put a foot wrong on Smackdown this week either. He is developing all the time and I think he will win a lot of people round in the end.

Wait so having a really cool, devastating finisher makes it more indy? Guess Corbin should just use the spear or maybe a nice leg drop then.

Gotten to.

lmao

Dean Ambrose's look is probably the second biggest complaint against him, right after that forced rebound clothesline spot he does every single match. If Ambrose actually got some ring gear he would look much less out of place at the top of the card.

Third biggest complaint is his shitty punches. Ambrose / Shane bareknuckle boxing match for Mania plz.

Ambrose's look is fine I think. Hed look like a bit bigger James Ellsworth in regular ring gear.

Doesn't that make him a face?

Dang, exactly right at this point (27, 18). :naughty:

Only seen him 2 times now and nothing about him stands out.

It's not devastating, it's a flatliner with theatrics.

Swing and miss.

Ha, agreed.

Lol, it adds to Ambrose character, but takes away from Corbin? I think we are really stretching here.

I understand not liking the character, but these are very minor things. If he shaves and cuts his hair, is he a main eventer?

He has definitely had his cardboard moments, but he is getting better in almost every way, every week, and is slowly finding that character.

I could easily say that I think his lack of emotion and cold demeanour add to the idea he is a lone wolf and a cold, uncaring individual.

At the end of the day, he has way more positives than negatives IMO and couple that with the fact he is improving almost weekly...He will be a world champ before the end of the year.

Similar looks can work for one character and not another. Corbin is presented as a biker bad ass. When you here those words what kind of person comes to mind? If you said Corbin you're either a liar or you've never seen a real biker in your life.

Dean on the other hand is portrayed literally as "the dude." He's supposed to look out of place. He's that wacky and crazy uncle who everyone loves but are also slightly afraid of. Now is that the best presentation for him? Well, no, in my opinion it's not, but for what it is it works.

Wait, Corbin's supposed to be a biker?

I thought he was a wannabe school shooter who couldn't get his hands on a gun.

That joke has really proven my point about his look. Lol

Nope stunner looks legit painful end of days is a glorified flat-liner and most versions of that move just look like your giving yourself a slam and like it hurts you far more than your opponent.

They are obv moving away from the biker thing. I don't think his new tron and entrance has anything to do with being a biker anymore? Maybe I am wrong though, haven't paid that much attention.

But I really feel like he is finding himself and the character is becoming something more. The beating on Ambrose and last Smackdown was so cold and he looked like such a massive threat in the chamber.

Think we are starting to see a more aggressive, cold, post-apocalyptic type character. I guess we will see where he goes, but I am definitely interested so far.

I didn't see him at all in NXT, so maybe that makes a difference?

After the last joke, I decided to expand on it a little bit. So, I present to you...

10 things Baron Corbin Looks like:

Vastardikai, I love you so much for that lol XD

"Post-apocalyptic" character? I think you're confusing him with the Ascension. I mean outside of his entrance tron and that one outfit with the fake skulls on the shoulders nothing says post-apocalyptic about his character. He's just playing the typical bully heel really with a tiny dash of fake biker thrown in.

Just a hint of it, but it's there, with the tron and names of moves and some of the material in his attire. Also the names in his moveset. His hair/look sort of reminds me of Book of Eli, movies like that. Just a hint of it, but it was in my mind anyway.

Post apocalyptic isnt a gimmick. Is corbin a time traveler now?

I didn't say it was his gimmick, just that I could see hints of it in what makes up his character, his style if you like. I think that style and presentation could mesh well with a cold, loner "gimmick".

I dunno, I just see a picture forming. He might never get there, but he is definitely much more intriguing than the guy in the initial Ziggler feud.

The Chamber and the beatdown on Ambrose on Smackdown were both great and I just think he is on the rise

I'd like to see him convert to Judaism and become Baron Cohen. Maybe give him a diamond broker gimmick. Be more entertaining than the poop he is right now. Not as bad as Bayley tho

Oy!

I'd expect that from the likes of owenbrown but not you damn. That's kinda racist.

Aesthetic is VERY important to a wrestler, and different things work in different scenarios. Gillberg wore black trunks and was bald, but he was never going to be Stone Cold Steve Austin. That is an obvious example, but it highlights the point. Personally, I don't like Ambrose's look, but the argument that what is good for one must be good for another doesn't fly.

Thank you.

Watching Corbins wwe network debut right now. Why the fuck did they put him in a tshirt? Also he has balded huge in the past 3 years. Def hirting his look.

Also...his work was much better then...

Still boring as a bag of rocks. Seems like WWE finally realized it too.

Just because he lost? He looked like monster who just got caught with a good shot. They did everything they could at backlash to make him look strong in defeat. And now he's in MITB.

As for the topic, I've been won over. He's still green, but he can have really good matches with the right people. The main reason I like him is because in an era where everything is scripted and promos and characters feel wooden and forced, Corbin comes off like a genuine asshole.