How Batista's Book Inspired 'King' Corbin's WWE Dreams

"I just don’t feel cool admitting this at all".

Baron Corbin NXT WWE
WWE.com

'King' Corbin made headlines last week by blasting fans who criticise him.

Now, the SmackDown heel has revealed exactly what inspired him to chase his goal of becoming a pro wrestler. Specifically, Corbin has told what piece of advice prompted him to target the WWE system.

The royal goof told Corey Graves' 'After The Bell' podcast that it was Batista's book, 'Batista Unleashed', that had his mind racing. In the book, Batista cited Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE's old developmental system) as the perfect place to train if one wanted to catch Vince McMahon's eye.

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That spoke to Corbin. He read the book in college, and admits he didn't actually know there were other places to train anyway - the 'King' wasn't aware of the independent scene, and he only knew that wrestlers trained in Japan or via this magical OVW place.

He wouldn't even have known about that without big Dave's autobiography.

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Corbin told Graves that he doesn't "feel cool" admitting that he was inspired by Batista's book. Instead of being directly headhunted from the NFL or accidentally stumbling across the company, Corbin was a casual WWE fan who blissfully ignored the indy scene.

Some will have a field day with that nugget of info.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.