Baron Corbin wanted to wear gold medals for six months after retiring Kurt Angle and thinks dropping the ‘King’ gimmick came at the perfect time

Baron Corbin is now Happy Corbin, but it took us a long time to get here.

Before he was Happy, he was King Corbin for two years, give or take. After winning King of the Ring in 2019, a lot of fans had become tired of the King gimmick and wanted something new for Corbin.

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Once he lost his crown to Shinsuke Nakamura, fans got their wish and Corbin has been doing some of the best work of his career since.

But did the King gimmick run too long? Speaking to talkSPORT, the 37 year old didn’t think so.

“My existence in WWE is to irritate people, let’s be real,” Corbin started.

“I’ve never been a guy going out looking for cheers or wanting that admiration on social media. I’ve been a bad guy since day one, really.

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“When people start to complain, you’ve got to define if they’re really complaining because it’s not good or are they complaining because it’s irritating them. That King of the Ring thing, I think it reached a point where people like ‘ah, is somebody else going to be king? I’m tired of it.’ 

“So it was one of those touchy things where it was like are we going too long? Or is this good because it’s irritating people? 

“The story with Shinsuke [Nakamura] stealing the crown just kind of fell in and I think it sparked Vince’s creative with whatever it was - I was sad face when I lost the crown? I have no idea. But it was like ‘we’re going down in the dumps now.’

“Looking back, I’m thinking that’s the perfect thing. A lot of people wanted me out of it and wanted me to be miserable and it kind of rolled into that really well. 

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“I think that was pure luck and that’s a lot of this business and this world with these characters and personalities. Opportunity, luck and timing and the three real things to go on and I think the timing was perfect,” Corbin explained.

The former NFL man has had a good career in WWE and one of his highlights will be retiring Kurt Angle.

The Olympic Hero is legitimately an all-time great in the squared circle and claiming his final scalp should be a momentous deal.

Angle has openly stated he wanted the match to be with John Cena and fans wanted that too. Corbin realises that, but also thinks once he was the man to retire Angle, WWE could have done more with it.

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“I wish we would have [done more], I wish we would have really capitalised on the momentum that gave me, because that’s an incredible opportunity. 

“When you look at the guy, and not just what he’s accomplished in WWE, but what he’s accomplished in life, for him to step out… Yeah, everyone is going to have a dream match for their final match and I can’t ever imagine Kurt Angle was like ‘I want to wrestle Baron Corbin for my last match in WWE!’

“He had history, he was Cena’s first match in WWE and I understand that completely. Who wouldn’t want to go out wrestling John Cena as their last match? It’s a phenomenal thing to do if you’re in the ring with him or Kurt - doesn’t matter.

“To me, it was more than I could have ever wished for to be in that position with Kurt, because he’s a living legend, Hall of Famer, gold medallist; you can list his accolades all day long and that’s who I got to share the ring with at WrestleMania, one-on-one. 

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“Most people fight their whole career for a one-on-one, singles matches on the card at WrestleMania because it’s hard. It’s really hard to get on that show and be in a prominent spot, and I think I was.

“To go out with a victory was something that surprised me. I would never have thought… I would have thought that Kurt was going to go out on a golden horse in front of everybody and give his salute. 

“But I got the opportunity to get that victory and his kids were giving me the finger from the audience. It was amazing. I have the poster on my wall in the gym at home of everything. It’s a special thing I’ll always appreciate because I love Kurt as a person and a performer. 

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“He helped me immensely with what I do. And he enjoyed working with me, I think - at least that's what he tells me, or he’s a really good liar! - but it was awesome. It was really cool.

“I wish, looking back, we always wish we could change or do more with something. But I would have loved to have gotten six months out of wearing a gold medal and just rubbing it in everyone’s face, but it was not the direction they had and we went a different way. 

“I’m OK with it, we always find something else that works that’s good and fun and I love where I’m at now.”