Baron Corbin had a miserable August. In a month’s time, Corbin went from being an imminent WWE Champion to just another guy on SmackDown’s roster. His fall from grace has been well documented, but most of the stories are conflicting. However, now that time has passed, the source of Corbin’s “punishment” is becoming clearer.
We have multiple reports to share on the situation as the first comes from Dave Meltzer and Wrestling Observer Radio:
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“Only thing I can say is that there was an incident, it wasn’t anything reported, nothing in the ring, not related to Twitter or talent, and they changed booking plans. He’ll be fine. Vince loves him. If not, he’d have been fired.”
The cryptic words leave plenty of room for the imagination to run wild. However, a new story from However, a new story from PWInsider actually has details on the above mentioned “incident.”
Citing multiple sources, the root of Corbin’s decline comes from a talent meeting in early August. Dr. Joseph Maroon, the head of WWE’s Wellness Policy, gave a presentation on concussion protocol. Maroon, who’s also involved with the NFL and their concussion program, was said to “downplay” the correlation between CTE and playing football. Baron Corbin, a former NFL player, took grievance with this claim.
As Corbin challenged Maroon, he mentioned that he is part of a concussion-related lawsuit against the NFL, making him and Maroon natural adversaries. In the film Concussion, Maroon is actually in the movie and is portrayed as an NFL apologist who attempts to discredit football related CTE claims.
Corbin and Maroon were said to have debated for several minutes that cast a chilling awkwardness on the meeting. The “heat” on Corbin doesn’t come from his stance on CTE but his timing of debate. Apparently, the issue was that Corbin essentially took the meeting hostage instead of talking to Maroon privately. PWIsider reports that some WWE talent were annoyed by Corbin’sneed for debate while others were impressed by his commitment to the subject.
Could this be the source of Corbin’s slide down Smackdown’s card? Eh, Maybe. It doesn’t seem that egregious of an offense. In all likelihood, Corbin’s loss of opportunity stems from multiple reasons. He’s said to have rubbed WWE the wrong way be his negative Tweeting. It’s also believed that John Cena supplied the ‘kiss of death’. Whatever it is, Corbin finds himself several notches lower on WWE’s totem pole.
This is a story the continues to develop and we likely have yet to hear the last of it. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.
