Baron Corbin is no stranger to battle royals.
Just two years ago at WrestleMania 32, Corbin had made his surprise debut on the WWE main roster and won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
MORE: The Rock is a dad again
The former NFL offensive lineman and Golden Gloves Champion has made an impact in his first few years in WWE after working his way through NXT. Already a United States Champion and a Money in the Bank winner, Corbin now has his sights on becoming one of the company’s top guys after being moved from “SmackDown Live” to “RAW” as part of the recent Superstar Shakeup.
Corbin will be one of the record 50 participants in the Greatest Royal Rumble match, the biggest match of its kind in WWE history. It’s just one match on the stacked card at the Greatest Royal Rumble event taking place Friday, April 27 at the King Abdullah International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The show — which includes seven championship matches plus The Undertaker returning to the ring — will air live on the WWE Network with the pre-show at 11 a.m ET and the main show starting at 12 p.m. ET.
Sporting News recently spoke with “The Lone Wolf” about the massive event in Saudi Arabia, why he is jealous of Rusev and why he thinks “RAW” is the best place for him right now.
SPORTING NEWS: Are you ready for the long flight to Saudi Arabia?
BARON CORBIN: Oh, yeah. The last time I was over there it was such a cool experience. I was wondering where the next place and next arena we would go to. To be going back over there for the Greatest Royal Rumble is pretty awesome. The flight is going to be long but it's that good excitement. The flight home will be rough. That's when it gets hard — when the fun is over and you have to go back home.
SN: When you have a long flight like this one, what's going through your head? How do you use the flight time to get prepared for the show?
BC: You definitely start trying to get your creative juices flowing. You want to have ideas when you get there and where you want to go and what story you want to tell to the millions of people around the world that are going to be watching this event. But you don't want to drive yourself crazy. If you start thinking about something too much, it can be a bad thing. So, I use that time on the plane to watch some TV shows off Netflix and whatnot. I've been loading my iPad with TV shows for a few days now. I'm trying to be ready because it is a 12 or 13-hour flight. I'll definitely come up with some great ideas and I'll watch some shows.
SN: The show is airing live on the WWE Network on Friday at noon ET with an 11 a.m. pre-show. How many people do you think will be coming up with excuses or will be sick that day so they can stay home from work?
BC: I think a lot of people! I think a lot of those people were at WrestleMania as well. We have a true following of diehard fans who watch anything and everything we do. That's why we love what we do, because of our fans and the support they give. Getting to see this for the first time ever, this experience in this part of the world at this magnitude, I think a lot of people are going to have a cold or a cough and they can't go to work Friday and the WWE Network is going to be running all over the world.
SN: WWE recently had WrestleMania 34 and now you have this huge event. Does this feel like another WrestleMania?
BC: It definitely does. The magnitude of this is insane. It's crazy to comprehend because I haven't been over there yet to see the building, the arena, and the atmosphere of the people. When you get to WrestleMania and you're walking around, you just feel that energy from the people in streets and in restaurants and buildings. Everywhere you go, everyone is on that energy level with you. They're excited for the show and they're excited for every part of it. I'm excited to get to Jeddah and experience that energy that the people are going to have. I think that elevates it and that makes it have that WrestleMania mentality. It's unbelievable what we're doing.
Then you look at the card — a 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble match — when you look at the magnitude of the matches. You have a Casket Match between 'Taker and Rusev. Like, that's crazy. When was the last time we had a Casket Match? It's been a little while, so we're breaking out a lot of big things for this. I can only imagine that it's going to reach the level of WrestleMania.
SN: Be honest — were you jealous when you found out that Undertaker was having a Casket Match and it wasn't against you?
BC: (laughs) I 100 percent was jealous. I sent a few text messages to people going "what the heck? How am I not in this match?" There was a huge moment of jealousy. I've always wanted to be in the ring with 'Taker. I got a little taste of him at the Royal Rumble a couple of years ago and he eliminated me. I owe him a good fight, that's for sure. I grew up watching 'Taker and he used to scare me as a kid so I think it would only add to the excitement to be in a casket match with a guy like that. There's definitely some jealousy.
SN: Have you been able to spend any time with Undertaker when he comes back for WrestleMania or other events?
BC: I've been really fortunate in that I got to spend some time with him when I was in NXT. He helped me a little bit on my entrance and the way I move. It seems like he gravitates towards me because we kind of have that same mentality, we both walk on the edge of things. We both love boxing and MMA and we kind of style ourselves after that. We throw really nice punches and they do a lot of damage. I think he saw that when I was in NXT, a little bit of himself in me and the style I have, a big guy who can really move. So every time he's around, I always make sure to spend 15, 20 minutes talking to him about wrestling and my career. I always try to go as long as I can just about life and what's going on at home for both of us whether it's motorcycles or getting tattooed or who knows. I always try to soak up as much as I can from him when I'm around him.
SN: You're going to be part of the 50-man Royal Rumble match at the show. That's the biggest Royal Rumble match ever. I can imagine it can be a bit tough navigating through a 30-man Royal Rumble match. What's it going to be like with 50 people in it?
BC: (laughs) All I can really do is laugh because I have no idea. I have no idea how this is going to go. I was in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania and we started with 30 guys standing in the ring and I was like "holy moley, I can't even move". I just started swinging at everybody. I don't know how the structure for this is going to be. Are we starting with guys in? Are we going every 60 seconds? 90 seconds? How close to the Royal Rumble are we going? I have no idea. I'm just going to have to have my head on a swivel and see what it throws at me and just but I know it's going to be madness, that's for sure.
SN: Do you know that if you did two-minute intervals, the match would go almost two hours?
BC: Yeah! I don't want to be No. 1 in that case! Then I'd have to go out there for two hours and throw everybody else out of the ring. Is there a water break in this thing? It's crazy.
EOD just hit Monday night #Raw pic.twitter.com/qLb1MlcsVl
— Baron Corbin (@BaronCorbinWWE) April 17, 2018
SN: You just got moved to "RAW" in part of the Superstar Shakeup. Were you hoping you'd be switching from "SmackDown" to "RAW"?
BC: You know, it was kind of bittersweet. I feel like we were really building something amazing at "SmackDown Live" and you get into a routine. My week has been completely screwed up this week because I keep thinking I'm a day ahead of what I actually am. I woke up this morning getting ready to take the trash out and I was like ah, it's not Friday yet, it's Thursday because I came home on Tuesday. My internal clock is out of whack. That's taking some adjusting.
I think as far as my career, it's the correct move for me. I think it's the correct path, the correct place to go because you've got guys over there who will elevate you to a whole other level. AJ Styles is amazing and I think we've had some amazing matches, especially when I took the United States Championship off him. That was amazing and it did a lot for my career but I want to get over and mix it up with guys like Roman Reigns. He's unbelievable. I'm looking forward to his Cage Match with Brock (Lesnar) in Saudi Arabia on Friday. It's gonna be a war. If you saw what they did at 'Mania, I can't imagine how physical it's going to get.
But I want to go and stand toe-to-toe with a guy like Roman or Brock or Seth Rollins. I think there's unbelievable competitors on "RAW" and people look at "RAW" and say that's the primetime, it's the jewel of WWE. I want to be in those conversations — who are our top guys? Who's the guy that can lead WWE into the future? I want my name in that conversation. I think "RAW" is a place I can solidify that.
SN: Do you think you're a better fit on "RAW" because there are more guys that are your size such as Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, overall more big guys on that brand?
BC: I definitely do. I think there's a lot of guys who impose much more threat. I've always been a guy, I ran my mouth in NXT about the little guys who come through and they are tough and feisty or whatever it is. To me, they're no more dangerous than a little chihuahua. So, I want to get in there and roll around with the big guys. Braun Strowman, that guy's a monster. He's done some amazing things. I think he pulled a building down this year. I think it's a good test for me. I believe that I'm a very special person in my abilities of being able to be so athletic at such a big size. I'm 6-8, 280 pounds and I feel like I move like I'm 5-10 and 200. I really want to test my athletic ability, my toughness and my skills against those guys who are in my ballpark, size wise.
Brian Fritz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on Blog Talk Radio.
