WWE made the decision to new renew the contract of Tom Pestock (Baron Corbin in WWE) at the end of 2024, ending his time with the company after 12 years.
Pestock was regularly featured on television on all three brands throughout his career, filling various roles as a babyface and heel.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Pestock opened up about his departure.
"With my contract ending and WWE deciding not to renew, obviously, that hurt and lit a fire. I felt like, in my WWE career, I was in uncharted water. I had gone to NXT, reinvented myself, and put a lot of work into it, even though I didn't agree with some of it. I had a conversation going to NXT. I was sat down, Bruce Prichard, I'm going to be polite. He was like, 'It's just not working. We want you to go down there and reinvent yourself. New moves. Lose a little weight.' I did and I think it was maybe not meant for me to succeed as well as I did down there, but they have such an amazing system with the talent, producers, and coaches they have, and the writers. It's impossible not to succeed down there. I think I killed it and it couldn't be denied. I went back to the main roster -- I'm an open and truthful person. I'm not capable of lying or BSing, when I got up there, I feel like someone was holding me down in a sense. 'That wasn't supposed to work.' I would go do dark matches, or when I did wrestle on TV, the crowd was insane for me. It was the best reaction I had in years. There were times in matches where Apollo [Crews] would be getting beat up, and they'd be chanting my name and he'd be like, 'You're over.' It would be crazy. My reactions, with no ego, I would say that aside from maybe Cody [Rhodes], Randy [Orton], and Kevin [Owens], were the best on the whole show. Every night on SmackDown. That's doing dark matches or doing TV. Berlin, we did the tag match, and they were insane. I would come back through the curtain and [William] Regal would be like, 'This is amazing. The work was awesome. They love you.' Road Dogg would be like, 'Corbin, you're over in this town.' 'It's every town, dude. It's not just a one off.' One of the writers was like, 'We want to change you to a heel.' 'I don't know. We've never done this babyface. They wanted me to be different.' We went out there, I don't remember what city it was, Arkansas maybe, and it was crazy. They blew the roof off for me. Chanting my name during the match when I wasn't in the match. I walk back and Chad [Barbash], the head writer of SmackDown, 'I told them you should walk back here, give us both the finger, and walk off because the reaction was so good.'"
Corbin continued, "That was frustrating because I'm like, There is still something there unresolved that I could get back and accomplish as that babyface. It made me hungrier to succeed, being told, 'We're going to go a different direction,' after being told, 'We want you to change everything,' and you do it and it's successful. I'm very self-aware at the same time. There were times with the JBL stuff. I think it could have worked if we had done it differently. We pitched several ideas, and JBL is the man. He sent in amazing pitches and they just died in the wind somewhere. I'd stand out there and go, 'You can feel it's not working. I'm not getting the reactions that I want.' Six months ago, the reactions were there, and it was firing on all cylinders. I recreated everything like I was asked to do. I've always done everything I was asked to do. For them to be like, 'We're just gonna go in a different direction.' That was frustrating because there is nothing you can do, at the end of the day. I was talking to Randy about it. Guys reached out, guys you'd expected like Seth, Finn [Balor], and Kevin. Those dudes are amazing people. [CM] Punk and Randy. Randy was like, 'I thought you were going to be here another ten years. I don't understand it. Do you mind if I talk to Hunter [Triple H] about it?' I don't know if he ever did. He's like, 'Somebody doesn't like you.' There is nothing I can do to change that. I feel like I know who it is, and that's beside the point, but they have power enough to either kill creative or whatever it is. They have to go to bed with that at the end of the night. That's on them. For 13 years, I've made this entity that is me and I think it's going to help push me. I wouldn't have had that without WWE. I wish it wouldn't have ended the way it did. I wish I had more opportunity to continue with this babyface thing. Nobody wants it to end at any job. The most frustrating part for me is not understanding why. There is an ulterior motive there because I've been a company guy through and through. I've never said no to doing something. I've made everything work that I've been given. I've never once complained online. You can send me to talk to ESPN, Boys & Girls Club. I fit the mold of a professional. I dress professional and show up professional. I don't miss shows. 13 years, never once missed a show or training due to injury or being sick. Not once. Not even COVID. I was a hero during COVID, in my opinion. I was on every show, sometimes both shows. I've been a team player through and through. Maybe in the end, that hurt me a little bit, always being the guy that is like, 'No problem. You need The Demon Finn Balor to beat me up in three minutes at SummerSlam, okay. Cool.' It was a weird place to be."
Asked if he was shocked that WWE made the decision to not renew his contract, Pestock replied, "People were shocked. I was shocked. Your gut instinct tells you something, and I think there was one person in particular that I think was behind all of it. It sucks, but it is what it is. I'm not going to cry over it. I'm grateful for everything I had there and every opportunity I had there. I can't let one person put me in a bad place. I'm not going to let one person control my emotions. The fact that Randy Orton is calling me going, 'There is someone who doesn't like you.' I get it. I know who it is and I told him and he's like, 'Yeah, you're probably right.' When you have someone of that magnitude being like, 'I'm going to talk to Hunter.' It makes you feel good because other people see the flipside of it. 'He's really good.' No one can do what I do in the sense of going out, making people believe in the authenticity of what I'm doing, whether it's Happy Corbin, Sad Corbin, Wolf Dogs, Burn the Ships. Just being myself. People believe it. I got beat 10 million times, but people were still booing me and still having fun. When I would work with different babyfaces and lose every single week, they still bought that there was a chance that I would win or screw this guy over. That's a special talent, and to do it without complaining. There are a lot of guys walking around boo-boo facing when they aren't getting the win. I did my job and was happy to do it. Maybe I should have been a little more selfish with what I did. It could have hurt me and I could have been done three or four years ago. You never know, or it could have helped me because there are some guys that are that way and you see it benefit some and it doesn't benefit others. There is no right path to take to find all the success you want."
Corbin concluded by saying, "There are a few things that are frustrating. I was asked to change everything, and I did. I come up and a month before I'm released, Hunter is standing next to me in the ring and is like, 'You should be really proud at reinventing yourself. You've accomplished a lot.' A month later, 'Oh, they're not going to renew me.' A month ago, Hunter told me how good I was doing. That was like weird. I love Hunter. I don't think he's the guy (behind my release) by any means. Anybody listening, don't read into that. He's not the guy. [Hunter] has helped me every step of the way. He built my entrance at NXT when I first came through. Main roster, he's given me more advice than I could ever ask for that helped my career. I love Hunter to death and I always will. What Hunter does is amazing. Him and I are in tune with music and the way we see things and having badass heels that can beat people up and not just comedy. We're more aligned on the philosophy of how things work. That was a bummer."
Pestock competing in his first post-WWE match at The People vs. GCW when he battled Josh Barnett in a Bloodsport match.
Fans can find Pestock's comments on his future in wrestling by clicking here.
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