Is Baron Corbin The Best Heel In WWE?

And could he be anything other than a heel?

baron corbin
Source: WWE

Baron Corbin is fresh off of his King of the Ring win and looks to have his new gimmick down to a T already. Before even putting on a crown or cape, Corbin has always had this “better than you” attitude and self-anointed sense of royalty. This is just another feather in the cap for Corbin’s ego, so now we should ask a glaring question regarding the former professional football player. Is Baron Corbin the best heel in WWE today?

There’s no doubting how much disdain is brought about from the audience whenever “King” Corbin shows his face. He makes it so easy to hate him just based off of his mic work and how he talks down to the audience. Many people boo because they don’t like the in-ring work, but the majority of people will agree that Corbin plays the villain role so perfectly that it feels like a reflex to rain down disdain whenever seeing the former General Manager of Monday Night Raw.

With the King of the Ring win fresh in our minds, there’s no telling what direction we could see this gimmick go. He has already added a dark, punk rock-esque look to the king alter-ego. It looks like he’ll be going the route of acting like the ruler of all, just like how William Regal and Booker T played the role. The tournament has made many people stars and it seems like heels make the role more popular than face superstars.

There are many characters that are hard to imagine in any other role than the bad guy. People like Ric Flair, Mr. McMahon, and Rick Rude made the role seem so realistic that a face turn was almost off-putting. It’s hard to imagine a situation where Baron Corbin is the hero after all of the dastardly and heinous actions he has performed on the main roster.

In a world where kayfabe just isn’t a factor much, Corbin genuinely creates a vibe that makes you want to hate him. There are definitely Baron Corbin fans out there and most of them will even admit that he is an easy guy to hate. We often see in today’s world of professional wrestling that the villains are often cheered more than the heroes. People like AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, and Kevin Owens are often met with more fanfare when playing the heel role. This poses the question: why does Baron Corbin get met with so many negative reactions?

Some would question whether the NFL experience started off this attitude for making the crowd turn against him. He played for the Indianapolis Colts and the Arizona Cardinals in a limited capacity before his time in the WWE. Corbin was also a two-time Kansas-Missouri Golden Gloves regional champion in amateur boxing. These sports so often play off of people playing parts to get more mainstream attention. Most people don’t have these type of experiences, but with so many different atmospheres, you can definitely pick up a few tips and tricks on how to get noticed.

We have never seen how a babyface Corbin would work out and if it would ever get any traction. He could very well end up being a lifetime heel, which is very rare in the world of professional wrestling. Superstars like Kevin Owens were thought to have never been able to break out of the heel role, but he is actually flourishing in the role of the face right now. It would be hard to imagine Corbin running in and making the save on a superstar getting jumped. Baron could honestly set a huge precedent for staying in one role for the majority of his career.

There isn’t a specific moment in Corbin’s career where people can look back and find a singular experience to show when they started hating him. There wasn’t a drastic storyline or an uncalled-for incident that would warrant the lasting hatred. The bottom line would have to be that Corbin has mastered the ability to make the crowd hate him better than anyone on the current roster.

Now with his king gimmick starting, we can expect the ego of Corbin to go through the roof. We have already seen a pretty exciting feud with Chad Gable and this new gimmick opens the door for some fresh programs. Cedric Alexander, Rey Mysterio, and The Miz are all some new potential feuds that we could see coming. With the draft arriving soon, we could also see some matches with the current SmackDown superstars.

AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and Bray Wyatt make up the list of top heels in WWE at the moment, but as far as true heels go, nobody gets a reaction like Baron Corbin. He is a true throwback to how heels and faces were back in the 80s and early 90s. Heels seem to more often get cheered now because the bad guy is the cool persona. Corbin makes the fans genuinely hate him and that’s why he should have more consideration for the top heel in WWE currently.

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