WWE Should Have Kept The Sad Corbin Gimmick For Way Longer
Ethan Hayes
Published Mar 27, 2026
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Baron Corbin has had a strange journey throughout his WWE career, from near world-title highs to the lowest of heatless lows. He has been someone who has suffered from a lack of interest from fans at times, even if his work as a heel is often solid at worst. In 2021, Corbin suddenly became one of the most intriguing and entertaining parts of WWE television, as he became broke, which was the start of a “sad” gimmick. This content was gold, but unfortunately, it was very short lived, as WWE developed the “Happy Corbin” gimmick, which is far less successful.
Baron Corbin’s Heel Persona Was One Of The Worst Parts Of WWE TV
In NXT, Baron Corbin was a dominant competitor who squashed his opponents, and his initial "Lone Wolf" character was a gimmick that got over. Eventually, he moved to the main roster, and despite a slow start, he began getting several big wins, and even earned a shot at AJ Styles’ WWE Championship. In 2017, he won the Money in the Bank briefcase, and at the time, it wasn’t the most unpopular decision. From there, everything went downhill. From losing in his cash-in attempt, to becoming the “Constable” of Raw in one of the worst authority angles of all time, things weren’t going well for Corbin.
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No matter how WWE changed up his gimmick, and no matter who he feuded with, his rivalries were mostly flat and uninteresting. This carried on for several years, with his feuds against the likes of Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns all resulting in stale storylines and a lack of interest from the audience. During his reign as “King Corbin”, his gimmick reached a whole other level on unbearable. However, after losing his crown to Shinsuke Nakamura, things began to change for Corbin, as for the first time in many years, he became entertaining.
“Sad Corbin” Was A Hilarious Gimmick, Becoming A Highlight Of Weekly WWE Content
Due to his loss of the crown, Corbin lost everything. His fortune, his home, and his family were all taken away from him, leaving him dishevelled and desperate. Corbin began growing his hair and beard out, creating a broken-down look, with his character work being incredible with this brand-new gimmick. After so many years of being, for lack of a better term, boring, this proved how talented Corbin could be as a performer. It was a silly gimmick, but when done right, WWE can get silly gimmicks spot on.
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Over the next month, there were several entertaining segments involving Corbin. He started his own website called CorbinFund.com to try and raise money, and he asked several superstars to help him out, who all ultimately laughed in his face due to him being such a despicable heel for several years. Corbin began getting desperate, attempting to invade a Universal Championship contract signing, though he was unsuccessful in signing his name. He also stole the Money in the Bank briefcase at one point, and upon turning up to SummerSlam, he was not let into the arena in a very entertaining skit on YouTube.
WWE was getting very creative with this new version of Corbin, with him sporting the same clothes week after week, which progressively got dirtier, in addition to other little nuances that developed over the month. From getting mugged by other superstars to losing matches, Corbin was suffering from bad luck, with his comedic timing being perfect. This character was really taking off, with fans both online and in the arena supporting it. Unfortunately, it only lasted around a month.
WWE Prematurely Ended This Gimmick, Instead Introducing “Happy Corbin”
After spending time in Las Vegas, Corbin hit the jackpot, gaining riches, becoming “Happy Corbin”. Whilst this was a little more entertaining than some of his previous iterations, it was still a huge step down from the broke gimmick. This was such a huge shame, with WWE hitting the jackpot when it came to Corbin with his down in the dumps persona. It was another case of WWE not listening to the fans, as it was clearly getting over, and there was a lot of long-term potential when it came to his overall character.
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Whether it be him getting so much bad luck that he eventually gained some sympathy, learning from his mistakes and making friends, or continually got more desperate, making obscene attempts to change his fortunes around, there were a lot of avenues that WWE could’ve gone down. If WWE reverted to the gimmick now, it would certainly be welcomed, but it would also feel incredibly cheap and less effective. WWE should have undoubtedly persisted with his gimmick, and their complete backslide on the character was a brain-dead move, as “Happy Corbin” isn’t anything special. For Corbin, it is unlikely that he will ever return to being as popular as he was during that brief one-month period.
