"You look terrible" - Vince McMahon's words to current WWE star after drastic transformation
Happy Corbin recently recalled how Vince McMahon told him that he looked “terrible” when he underwent a WWE character change in 2021.
As part of a storyline on SmackDown, Corbin struggled financially after losing his King of the Ring status to Shinsuke Nakamura. The former United States Champion wore the same clothes every week and stopped shaving his head and beard.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Corbin said the WWE Chairman jokingly mocked him when they saw each other during that time:
“People really enjoyed it, which is so funny because they hated me for so long," said Corbin. "I think people started to feel bad. They would genuinely feel bad. It would be funny because Vince would make fun of me… ‘You look terrible.’ ‘Vince, I know! And you gotta understand I’ve gotta live my life the other six days a week looking like this!’”
"What's happened to me?" 😞
#SmackDown @BaronCorbinWWE https://t.co/HvGidGtS1G
Corbin’s fortunes turned around the week of SummerSlam 2021 when he hit the jackpot at some casinos in Las Vegas. Now known as Happy Corbin, the SmackDown star has boasted about his winnings over the last seven months alongside his friend Madcap Moss.
Happy Corbin had the freedom to build his WWE character
Another day, another struggle for @BaronCorbinWWE...
@tiktok_us https://t.co/hqFoVHeS7W
Before his Las Vegas success, Corbin posted several in-character videos on social media to show how far his WWE stock had fallen. On one occasion, a security guard even refused to let him into an arena because he did not believe that Corbin worked for WWE.
Many former superstars have mentioned in interviews that they were told to stick to a script during their time with the company. However, Corbin stated that he was given the freedom to develop his character on social media without the help of the creative team:
“I got to do all this my way on my own," said Corbin. "We were doing TikToks showing up to work and not being let in. That was all us. That wasn’t creative handing us ideas. That was my shirt, the stain, all of those things were my touches on that character.”
Corbin is set to face long-term rival Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 38 on Saturday in Dallas, Texas. The match will be the 37-year-old’s sixth on the WrestleMania stage.
Please credit After The Bell and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.