Bishop Dyer (Baron Corbin in WWE) saw his WWE tenure come to an end at the end of 2024 when his contract was not renewed by the company. Dyer had been with the promotion for 12 years and been featured in NXT and the main roster for the majority of his career.
Many talents have left WWE, whether they were released or through their own volition, and some like Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre managed to do the work and return to the company in more high profile positions.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dyer was asked if Rhodes and McIntyre may serve as an inspiration for him.
“Yeah, and it’s not necessarily…it’s kind of a weird thing. I want to go continue to build myself and become a bigger star, whether it’s in a movie or a TV show or wrestling, all of those things. How do I make myself the biggest star in all aspects that I can, and jiu-jitsu in the mix. I want Bishop to be an entity. Baron Corbin is an entity. The jiu-jitsu world, the movie world, whatever it is. Those are all entities of me, which is the brand that I’m selling. So I think creating the biggest brand for me and growing my name, but yeah, you look at Cody, look at what he did. It’s like, that’s crazy. So guys leave and come back. Also, it’s good to kind of just go away sometimes. Whether it’s for a year or two years, you leave, the crowd kind of forgets about you, it’s a very quick-minded crowd. Four months later, they forgot, and then you come back, ‘This is the best thing ever. I haven’t seen him in forever.’ So it’s good to go away," he said.
He continued, "It’s funny because part of me is angry, if we’re being realistic. Part of me’s angry that I got let go. I’ve always done everything that’s expected of me and done it well, and I was getting great reactions on the show. When I was on the show; the reactions were amazing. They were cheering my name. Even tagging with Apollo Crews, at times, he’d roll over and be like, dude, they just won’t stop chanting your name, and I’m getting beat up. That’s why I was most angry, because I’m very self-aware, and I was getting fantastic reactions and doing great matches, and I reinvented myself. Hunter [Triple H] told me, ‘Great job reinventing yourself. You should really be proud.’ Then I got let go. So I was like, man. The first thought that comes to mind is, alright, well, I’m going to become bigger and better, and then when you call me to come back, I’m going to tell you to stick it. That’s kind of the motivation for me at the moment, the ability to tell that company, the world’s largest company, when they call, ‘Hey, man, we want you to come back, we’re really proud of what you’re doing,’ and I can go, ‘Ah, you know what? I’m good.’ In reality, saying that is crazy. But think that’s the motivation. Alright, I’ll show you guys what you missed out on, and you’ll be lucky if you get me back. Granted, six months from now, hopefully all of that irritation and anger goes away. But I think that’s what set Cody off for success. Cody was like, ‘Alright, middle fingers. I’ll show you what I can do,’ and then he did it. His first match with AEW, he smashes Hunter’s chair, and then Hunter’s the guy that calls him and wants to bring him back. That’s the cool thing about the wrestling world. Sometimes, it just takes time, and all things are forgiven. Or I’m going, hey, that person we talked about, maybe they’re gone. They’re no longer there. They’re not a great human being, so maybe they’re out. Then now, it’s like, oh, man, we can get him back, and let’s get him running. You never know. Or, like I said, I want to go to do some Japan stuff, the MLW stuff, maybe I’m having so much fun with those companies, Maple Leaf Pro, that I don’t look back, and I just continue to do those. I want to go to two weeks in Japan and then come back and do two MLW shows and a Maple Leaf show. Now, we’re cranking, and I got no worries."
Dyer has competed for Maple Leaf Pro and GCW since leaving WWE.
Elsewhere during the interview, Dyer gave his thoughts on Logan Paul. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit and link to the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
