NXT Star To Be At SmackDown & Raw For WWE Draft

This NXT favourite is due to be in attendance for both nights of this year's WWE Draft.

by Andrew Pollard
Baron Corbin
WWE

Having previously been rumoured to be a part of this year's WWE Draft, PWInsider now reports that Baron Corbin is indeed set to be in attendance for SmackDown on Friday and next week's Raw.

There's no confirmation that Corbin will actually be a part of the Draft, although one has to think the former United States Champion has a decent chance of a move back to the main roster if he's due to be at the two shows that just so happen to make up the 2024 Draft.

Baron Corbin has been in NXT since May of last year, with him undergoing a renaissance of sorts as he and Bron Breakker won the brand's Tag Team Titles. With those titles having since been dropped to Axiom and Nathan Frazer, and with Breakker now a fully-fledged main roster talent, many have speculated about what lies in the future for Corbin and whether he could be set to jump to Raw or SmackDown - whether that's as a solo act or to reunite the fun Wolf Dogs tandem with Bron.

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As for Baron's most recent main roster match, that was on a June 2023 episode of SmackDown, where he lost to Butch in less than two minutes. By that point, Corbin had already returned to NXT, where he would embark on feuds with Carmelo Hayes, Gable Steveson, Ilja Dragunov, and, of course, Bron Breakker.

Originally, Baron Corbin had previously been with NXT from 2012 through until 2016, with him moving to Raw in the aftermath of winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32. As well as that aforementioned United States Title win during his main roster run, Corbin also won the 2019 King of the Ring.

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In other Draft news, Carmelo Hayes is viewed as "a lock" to move to Raw or SmackDown, Ilja Dragunov has already been confirmed to be a part of the Draft, and Roxanne Perez, the D'Angelo Family, and Lyra Valkyria are amongst the names discussed to potentially depart NXT.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.