Baron Corbin reflects on how his time away from WWE changed him.
Just days after defeating Trick Williams to capture the WWE United States Championship at WWE SummerSlam 2026, Corbin looked back on his 2024 WWE departure and explained why his run on the independent scene ultimately made him a better performer.
Speaking on Busted Open (full episode below), Corbin admitted returning to WWE came with plenty of nerves, but said he used his year-and-a-half away from the company to improve every aspect of his game.
“That’s the most stress and nervousness I’ve had in a day in a long time. It was the combination of a lot of things. Coming back, I took that year and a half, and I elevated everything I did, whether it was in the ring, in jiu-jitsu, personality, the ability on a microphone. I kept to that grind.”
Corbin said working outside of WWE without the backing of the company’s infrastructure forced him to grow, adding that it renewed his passion for wrestling and helped him avoid taking opportunities for granted.
“I think when you’re doing it without that big machine behind you… I think you can grow exponentially… Coming back to it, it’s like, I’m going to make a statement. I’m not the same guy I was when I left. I hope people have forgotten about me so I can remind them how dangerous I truly am… Going away might have been the best thing ever for me and what I’m going to accomplish between those ropes.”
Corbin, who wrestled on the independent scene under the name Bishop Dyer following his WWE exit, also said the experience taught him humility after years of performing on WWE’s biggest stages.
“To sum it up in one word, humility… It made me appreciate everything I had so much more. When I was in that arena this weekend, I’m just looking at the size of it and going, ‘How could I have ever taken these moments for granted?’ Maybe that’s why I lost a step at the end of my run there the first time, that kind of arrogance of, ‘This is normal.’”
With his SummerSlam victory, Corbin became a two-time WWE United States Champion, and is currently the reigning champion following WWE SummerSlam 2026.
