Tom Pestock (Baron Corbin in WWE) finished up with the company at the end of 2024 when WWE made the decision to not renew his contract.
Pestock had been regularly featured on WWE television across all three brands for 12 years, though he rarely held gold while in the company.
"My silver lining to no longer being there is I can shake the stigma of, 'He's the guy that just puts people over to go on to their big moments. He's a good guy to put people over,'" Pestock told Chris Van Vliet on Insight.
"Let's say I go away for a year. Our audience, with Netflix going on, and SmackDown going to USA, our audience turns over. This deal with Netflix is going to bring so many new viewers that a year from now, they're going to have no idea who Constable Corbin was. The audience is going to change. I can come back and not have that stigma necessarily attached. If that were something that I do. I don't know if I would ever go back. If they call me right now, I would respectfully say, 'No thank you. I need to clear this. I need to fix this,' which is what I thought I did in NXT, but when I went back to the main roster, I think there were some writers who still had that, 'Corbin is our guy for this. This is what he does.' I kind of want that to go away."
Asked if he thinks the door is open for a potential return, Pestock said, "I think so. I don't think it ever closes. Look at the roster now of guys (who have returned). Cody [Rhodes], Drew [McIntyre], [CM] Punk. Punk is a guy who said he would never, ever, ever, ever go back. There are so many people who have gone and come back. I hold no ill will towards WWE. I'm so thankful for everything they've ever given me. The opportunities to perform in front of millions on TV and in person. Go to Boys and Girls Club, pull a plane for Special Olympics. There are so many cool things they do. I was a little bummed I didn't get to be on Netflix. How cool is that? It's an awesome thing. Things are changing there that I never thought I'd see, like logos on the ring because it's been such a historic business of 'don't change this, it's history. Don't mess with it.' Hunter is bringing a new light, new vibe, new energy. I think it's going to bring new fans. You're seeing celebrities. It's not what it used to be when guys were like, 'Are you a wrestling fan? Don't let anybody hear me. Did you see Raw last night?' Now it's, 'This is cool. This is fun.' [George] Kittle, [Patrick] Mahomes was at Raw. Bad Bunny is killing it. [Vanessa] Hudgens knows the product. It's not like, 'We're bringing these guys in and they have no clue. We're going to pay them to show up.' These people know what they're doing and getting involved with."
Elsewhere during the interview, Pestock opened up about his WWE departure. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Pestock had his first post-WWE match at The People vs. GCW, facing Josh Barnett in a Bloodsport match.
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