Winner of King of the Ring 2019
Corbin competed in the King of the Ring 2019 tournament and made it to the final round where he defeated Chad Gable. Corbin’s King of the Ring victory prompted his new ring name, King Corbin.
At WrestleMania 36, King Corbin lost to Elias after a roll-up pin on Night 1 of the event. At the end of April 2020, he qualified to compete in the Money in the Bank match but failed to win the contract after he and A.J. Styles fought over the briefcase and dropped it to Otis unintentionally.
King Corbin feuded with Rey and Dominik Mysterio and Murphy between November 2020 and February 2021. He formed a short term partnership with Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler but this disbanded after Cutler and Blake were released by WWE.
On the June 18th episode of SmackDown, Corbin lost to Shinsuke Nakamura in a Battle for the Crown match. As a result to losing his crown to Nakamura, this ended his King gimmick.
King Corbin Ring Name Change
Corbin began sporting dirty clothes, an unkempt beard and an unshaved head on the July 16th episode of SmackDown. He revealed that, after losing his crown, he had lost his car, his investments, his savings, his home was to be foreclosed upon, and his wife left with their daughter. He then revealed his own version of a GoFundMe campaign, called CorbinFund.com, asking fans and fellow wrestlers to donate to his cause. The next month, on August 13, Corbin stole the Money in the Bank briefcase from Big E and fled the arena. At SummerSlam, Corbin lost to Big E, who regained the briefcase.
On the August 27th episode of SmackDown, after turning his misfortunes around in Las Vegas, he drove into the arena in a Bentley, declaring himself “filthy rich” and demanding to be called “Happy Corbin.” On the September 24 episode of SmackDown, Corbin debuted his new talk show “Happy Talk”, Corbin then gained a new ally in Madcap Moss as they joined forces to attack Kevin Owens.
Happy Corbin & Madcap Moss Ally
Happy Corbin and Moss got into a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs over the Intercontinental Championship. Corbin defeated Nakamura in a Championship Contenders match, and both Corbin and Moss defeated Nakamura and Boogs in a Trick or Street Fight, but Corbin never received an Intercontinental Championship match.
Corbin and Moss then got into a feud with Drew McIntyre. Happy Corbin accompanied Moss to the his matches with McIntyre at WWE Day 1 and Elimination Chamber, with Moss losing both matches. Corbin and Moss participated in the Royal Rumble match but they were both eliminated by Drew McIntyre, continuing their feud. Happy Corbin lost to Drew McIntyre on the first night of WrestleMania 38.
On the April 8th episode of SmackDown, Corbin blamed his loss on Moss before attacking him. This ended their alliance and beginning a feud between the two. This led to a match at WrestleMania Backlash, which Moss won. At Hell in a Cell, the two competed in a No Holds Barred match, which Corbin lost.
On the June 17th episode of SmackDown, Corbin lost to Moss in a Last Laugh match. This ended their feud. After the match, Corbin confronted commentator Pat McAfee, who had been making fun of Corbin. After Money in the Bank went off the air, Corbin attacked McAfee at ringside. McAfee accepted his challenge for a match at SummerSlam. Corbin lost to McAfee at SummerSlam when McAfee hit him with a low blow while referee Charles Robinson was down. On the August 19th episode of SmackDown, Corbin unsuccessfully competed in a fatal five way match to determine the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship.
Baron Corbin Ring Name
Corbin returned under the Baron Corbin name with his new manager JBL on the October 17th episode. He started a winning streak until losing to Drew McIntyre on the November 21 episode of RAW. At the Royal Rumble event in January 2023, Corbin entered the Royal Rumble match in 14th place but was attacked by Brock Lesnar. He was then eliminated by Seth “Freakin” Rollins, ending his time in the Rumble at seven seconds.
On the February 6th episode of RAW, after losing to Dexter Lumis, JBL ended his association with Corbin. Corbin then began a losing streak until a live event on April 29, where he defeated Rick Boogs.
Corbin Joins NXT
At the 2023 WWE Draft in May, it was announced that Corbin was one of the selected superstars who signed a free agent contract. This would allow him to appear on both RAW, SmackDown, and NXT as an active roster member whenever he desired. On May 30th, he appeared on NXT and attacked NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes. Corbin made it clear that he would go after the NXT Championship at Gold Rush on June 27th. At Gold Rush, Corbin brought back his original Lone Wolf character, entrance music, and attire. Hayes defeated him to retain the NXT Championship.
The following week on NXT, a vignette aired showing Corbin burning various items associated with his past characters, including his Lone Wolf jacket, the vest he wore as the Constable of RAW, his King of the Ring Crown, and his Happy Corbin hat. At the Great American Bash, Corbin debuted a new look and entrance, and wrestled the debuting Gable Steveson to a double countout. At NXT No Mercy on September 30, Corbin defeated Bron Breakker.
Corbin & Breakker Win NXT Gold
Corbin was later paired with Bron Breakker. Together, they won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament by defeating Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes in the finals at Vengeance Day. Winning the tournament earned them a shot at the NXT Tag Team Championship. On the February 13th episode of NXT, Corbin and Breakker defeated The Family (Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo) to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. This marked Corbin’s first championship win since his run with the WWE United States Championship in 2017.
On April 6 at Stand & Deliver, Corbin and Breakker defeated Axiom and Nathan Frazer to retain the titles. In a rematch on the following episode of NXT, Frazer and Axiom defeated Corbin and Breakker to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions. Their reign lasted 57 days. During the run as tag team champions with Bron Breakker, Corbin slowly turned face for the first time since 2015. On April 23rd at Spring Breakin’ Week One, Corbin lost to Lexis King in his final match for NXT.
As part of the WWE’s 2024 Draft, Corbin was drafted back to the company’s SmackDown brand.
SHOW LESS
