Baron Corbin on Facing Chad Gable in King Of The Ring Tonight, Standing Up For WWE

– Baron Corbin spoke to Sports Illustrated about King of the Ring and more. Highlights are below.

On Playing Football: “My goal was to beat guys out of their job, even if they played at Oklahoma when I played at Northwest Missouri State. Those guys thought they were better than me, and that’s the same thing that irritates the fans in WWE. I didn’t wrestle in the independents, I didn’t pay my dues the way people think you should in wrestling. Someone like Seth Rollins, he wrestled in small gymnasiums for no money. I didn’t do that, but I’m still here—and none of those guys can do what I did. That absolutely fuels my ego.”

On Facing Kurt Angle At WrestleMania 35: “No one wanted it to happen, and that was the best part. Everyone wanted John Cena, but that’s not who they got. It’s the same thing with the King of the Ring—I’m the last person you want to see win. That only adds to my fire. And that match with Kurt Angle is something I’ll hold dear forever. It’s such a cool thing to work with guys who paved the way for us. And I got to do it in a football stadium, which is where I made my WrestleMania debut in Dallas, and Kurt is such an amazing talent with real-world accomplishments in a gold medal. The caliber of person and athlete he is, it’s amazing. I was disappointed with my WrestleMania the year prior, and that was a moment I was searching for in my career.”

On Defending WWE: “I’ll always stand up for WWE. We have the best superstars in the world, and we have the best people helping. We have Triple H, Michael Hayes, Fit Finlay, and Vince McMahon. We’re the best in the world, and I’m willing to stand up for that. I hold what we do to anyone in the world, no matter if it’s another wrestling company or the MLB or the NFL. We have no off-season, we’re on the road and sometimes doing the travel by ourselves. It’s a different grind. When I was in the NFL, it was all luxury team-owned planes and five-star hotels. We don’t have that, but we dominate the wrestling world and the entire sports world with some of the most talented and driven people I’ve ever been around.”

On King of the Ring: “Chad Gable isn’t someone you take lightly. He’s really fought the odds to get where he is now. This is a guy who was just on 205 Live after working with Jason Jordan, and this is a chance for him to make a name for himself on his own. I’m going to put the brakes on it, obviously, but I’m a big fan of his. After I am King, I’ll see if I get a jester outfit made for Gable as a reward for all he’s done. I’m going to try to do a lot of little things to irritate people, starting with Ricochet. He has ‘King’ in his Twitter tag, and I’m going to make him remove that. Every little detail is going to matter to me. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins won’t be allowed to wear crowns any more, either. I think back of how Booker T made the crown his own, and my goal is to match that and exceed it. I’m going to continue to do my job, even if people hate it. I’m here for a reason. Everybody else is not.”