In last week's ESPN 'Off The Top Rope' segment, the Lone Wolf made his intentions clear to The Coach, by saying he has his eyes firmly set on the WWE World Championship. As we prepare to enter the year of 2017, the road to Wrestlemania shortly follows, so this is the perfect time for all Superstars to prove their worth.
Baron Corbin has been primed and positioned to levitate in the main event scene for some time now, with thousands of fans recognising him as the next big thing.
For those who doubted the ability of the Lone Wolf, you only have to look back at his five-star performance against Kalisto at TLC, to be proved wrong. The two took a nonsensical concept of a match and made it into one of the best bouts of the night. It’s no doubt that Corbin has the potential to become an immovable cornerstone of Team Blue.
Here are five reasons Baron Corbin being pushed for the WWE title is a good thing for SmackDown.
#5 A monster heel is needed on SDLive
Look at Strowman on Raw and the impact he's having on its roster. He literally stands head and shoulders above his peers, even those in the main event scene. Every segment Strowman is in, draws interest and intrigue from the audience due to his dominating presence, and this is what we need Baron Corbin to be on Tuesday nights.
Baron Corbin has the selfish attitude, presence and the look to be a monster heel on SmackDown.
With his 6'8 frame and 275 pounds of presence, Corbin is the perfect fit for the role. If you look at the SmackDown roster right now, there's not much to be feared. You have a weasel heel in the Miz, a braggadocios one in AJ Styles and a sadistic trio in the Wyatt Family.
With no monstrous Superstar that dominate his peers, Corbin could become that heel, and dominate the WWE title picture for months to come.
#4 SDLive Main Event scene has been stale
Let's be honest, regardless of whether you like the two superstars, The AJ Styles - Dean Ambrose feud has been lacklustre at best, without the star power of John Cena. When a main event title picture is overshadowed by an unknown entity like James Ellsworth, it only confirms how forgettable the feud has been.
SmackDown Live needs shaking up; it needs a dominant Champion.
As good as Styles has been in the ring, he's been average on the mic. Corbin needs to enter the picture and be put over by the Champion, to legitimise his threat. If Corbin can dominate Styles in a fashion similar to Lesnar decimation of Cena at Summerslam, we will have a new star on our hands.
#3 Facilitates a Styles face turn
As we said before, AJ Styles is a great in-ring worker but his heel persona just hasn't worked. Arenas still chant and sing his name every single week; he simply has not gotten over as a heel. Instead, he’s the most over babyface on the roster. We need that definitive face turn to help Styles become an even bigger star.
A legit heel with actual heat versus a beloved face always creates the most interesting dynamics for TV. Corbin physically dominating Styles in a series of matches would create a sense of vulnerability for the Champ, thus attracting sympathy from the casual viewer.
With Ambrose struggling to get over, Ellsworth being a non-entity and Cena becoming a Hollywood star, SmackDown needs main event babyfaces that the crowd genuinely like, not heels they like instead. Corbin ploughing into the WWE title picture sets in motion this process for AJ Styles.
#2 Gives a face something to overcome
Throughout the history of pro wrestling, the best storylines have always come from the viewpoint of an 'underdog' complex. Hogan vs. the Giant, Austin vs. the Undertaker, Mysterio vs. the Big Show, Insurmountable odds drive interest and ratings. An underdog versus a larger than life monstrous heel captivates audiences across the world.
Corbin could be that utility heel that's used to make the road to WWE Championship fame even harder. He could be the benchmark, the last level of the game that babyfaces have to overcome in order to truly be Champion.
#1 Continues tradition of New faces/stars
Whether you like it or not, 2016 has been the year of new faces in the WWE. Many new wrestlers have come up to the main roster and made a devastating impact. While RAW has been labelled the Roman & Rollins show, SmackDown has been branded the land of opportunity.
This year alone we've seen new Superstars like Styles and Heath Slater, among others, become mainstays on prime time television. The brand split has given more air time to performers, who usually wouldn't get the limelight. There's no better place to make a name for yourself than SmackDown at the moment.
The TV-friendly two-hour format gives the show a fast-paced feel that allows quality to override quantity and facilitates the birth of new stars, like Baron Corbin.
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