10 Potential Megastars That Never Recovered From WWE Burials

4. Baron Corbin

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WWE.com

A plot still seems to be thickening as discussion of Baron Corbin's recent de-push rumbles on, with various stories emerging that it was less about his inadvertent abuse of a military man on Twitter, and far more to do with a categoric conclusion drawn between John Cena and Vince McMahon that 'The Lone Wolf' just didn't have 'it'.

Considering that he's only been wrestling five years, that's hardly all that surprising. It can take double that for a performer to even reach WWE let alone thrive in the complex environment, and even then, a future star's credibility with an audience can be smashed within a matter of seconds. For Corbin, it took just six.

The first three came as he lost his Money In The Bank briefcase thanks to an over-zealous cash-in attempt on Jinder Mahal just days before his SummerSlam match with John Cena. The three seconds he took to stare at the lights in that match must have felt longer than then years he'd spent training just to get to that point.

'The Champ' eviscerated Corbin in a reductive display of peacocking ill-befitting of an experienced professional an in industry that fundamentally requires robust cooperation regardless of the ingrained individualism. D*cking about in JBL's cowboy hat at ringside then repurposing a 'Where's Your Briefcase?' heckle for Baron into a 'Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks' chant just for himself, 'Big Match John' was instead a Big Time Charlie. Less a brightly burning starlet, Corbin was cruelly incinerated in the spotlight.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett