Rumor: The Possible Reason for WWE “Burying” Baron Corbin

There have been rumors that the reason for WWE seemingly souring on Baron Corbin’s push and having him lose the Money in the Bank cash-in was due to either John Cena telling Vince McMahon that Corbin “wasn’t ready” or Baron Corbin acting like a heel on Twitter.

However, last week, Dave Meltzer reported that John Cena and Twitter had nothing to do with Corbin’s recent streak of bad luck, saying that it was “an entire different situation outside the ring that happened a few weeks ago.”

Today, PWInsider shed some light on what that situation may have been.

In early August, the head of WWE’s wellness policy, Dr. Joseph Maroon was brought in for a meeting with talent to discuss concussions and the importance of reporting them to WWE management. During the meeting, Maroon brought up a recent study of deceased NFL players that found that 99% of the studied brains had CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head. According to reports, Maroon appeared to “downplay” the study, saying that it didn’t mean that every NFL player would develop CTE.

Baron Corbin, who was previously signed by the NFL’s Colts and Cardinals, reportedly interrupted Maroon and the two began arguing, with Corbin saying that there would be some form of head trauma on every play as helmets crack against each other. Corbin also said that he was part of a concussion-related lawsuit against the NFL and he knew that Maroon was against CTE and is known for attempting to downplay its effects.

Maroon is actually depicted in the Will Smith movie “Concussion,” as a pro-NFL doctor who attempts to deny any relationship between football and CTE. Maroon has previously said that the link was “exaggerated.” During the argument with Corbin, Maroon said that his depiction in the movie was inaccurate.

Corbin and Maroon reportedly argued for several minutes in front of WWE wrestlers and staff, with the argument being described as uncomfortable and awkward. A source told PWInsider that Corbin was not yelling or being belligerent, but may have chose to pick the “fight” at the “wrong time and wrong place,” which may have detracted from the point of the meeting. Maroon was forced to defend himself instead of being an “educator,” some felt.

However, other sources said that many of the wrestlers were impressed with Corbin for speaking up, since it’s not usually something that wrestlers do during meetings in front of management.

Though this isn’t confirmed as the definite reason for Corbin seemingly being “punished,” the sources say that if anything was the reason, this was it. There were rumors that Corbin was set for a WWE Championship run this year, but that was before WWE decided to put the belt on Jinder Mahal. Corbin is still involved in a pretty high level feud now also, feuding with AJ Styles over the United States Championship. Dave Meltzer has previously said that Vince McMahon “loves” Corbin, so if he was being “buried,” it doesn’t appear to be too bad.