Why Baron Corbin Lost His Money In The Bank Cash-In In 2017, Explained
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Back in 2017, it looked as though Baron Corbin might be breaking through as a big thing in WWE. After a dominant run in NXT, he had been on a bit of a roll on the main roster in 2016, debuting by winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal before going on to win feuds against the likes of Dolph Ziggler and also go on to win the United States Championship. However, when it seemed he was ready to progress to the next level with a win of the Money in the Bank briefcase, things came crashing down when he was unsuccessful in cashing it in. Six years on, some fans may wonder why exactly he lost his shot at the WWE Championship.
Baron Corbin Became Mr. Money In The Bank
By the end of 2018, fans had gotten sick and tired of seeing Baron Corbin on their screens, but in 2017 the hatred towards him wasn’t so visceral. For the most part, he was looked upon as a decent midcard heel with an explosive moveset and dominating presence. His mic work hadn’t set the world on fire, but he had impressed in a few matches here and there. It wasn’t too surprising to see him emerge victorious in an all-star Money in the Bank ladder match field in 2017 when he overcame the likes of AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Dolph Ziggler, as he had the size and look of a future world champion.
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With the SmackDown brand at the time leaning on creating new stars and putting a focus on different names, with the likes of AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt ,and Jinder Mahal being among the names who were given shots in the main event scene, it seemed likely that Corbin would go on to eventually cash in his Money in the Bank contract on the WWE Champion and win the biggest prize in the company. However, this wasn’t to be for The Lone Wolf.
John Cena Caused Baron Corbin To Fail His Cash In
On the August 1 episode of SmackDown in 2017, Corbin set his sights on a man who he had been feuding with, Shinsuke Nakamura, attacking him after the King of Strong Style had become the number one contender to the WWE Title. However, John Cena came to his aid, driving away the heel. Two weeks later, Cena himself was given a title shot against the WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, but Corbin saw this as an opportunity to force himself into the title picture. He caused a disqualification and cashed in his contract.
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Cena, not happy that Corbin had just cost him his chance at a record-breaking 17th world championship, distracted him. This allowed Mahal to roll Corbin up for the shocking victory. Corbin became the third man after Damian Sandow and Cena to be unsuccessful in a cash-in attempt. Fans were a little perplexed by this decision, as it came so soon after Corbin’s briefcase win. Whilst cash-ins have been a little more unsure as time has gone on, this was still a rarity at the time and a huge shock, leading to fans wondering why it had happened.
There Were Multiple Reasons For Baron Corbin’s Failed Money In The Bank Cash In
There were a fair few conflicting reports at the time of Corbin losing the Money in the Bank briefcase, all of which were summed up by GiveMeSport back in 2017. For instance, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer had stated Corbin’s stock had fallen with those backstage in WWE, and that Corbin was being punished due to undisclosed reasons. This would feel all but confirmed at the SummerSlam 2017 event when Cena pretty much squashed Corbin with absolute ease in what felt like a house show match to open up the PPV, effectively ending Corbin’s push for the main event scene spots for good.
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Elsewhere, on the Wrestling Inc. podcast, Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso indicated that Cena’s backstage sway had come into play, as the multi-time world champion didn’t believe Corbin was ready for the spotlight. Additionally, Corbin had been rubbing up people the wrong way with some of his twitter antics, in which he would even speak out against a military veteran - something he would have to apologize for.
Corbin would drop down the card for a while following this, later emerging as the Constable of Raw, and challenging Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship in 2019. He has had brushes here and there with the main event, but he has not been able to find himself as a world champion - something which feels like it will never happen at this point given his current position on the card.
