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I can see this being the route they go, but I don't think it gets real heat. It might get booed, but not in the way they really want it to. They don't book to real heat anymore and it'll just feel deflating.
I was thinking about Corbin last night (not wiping my dick on any belt), and he just doesn't feel like he's fully cooked yet. In the ring, eh, I still find him boring, but I don't hate all his matches. There has even been one occasion where he has arguably had match of the night (TLC 2016 with Kalisto). You just can't trust him to lead, and they seem to want to put him in a lead position.
But his gimmick is where it all really falls down for me. He's got this "Lone Wolf" stuff that feels like it was saddled to him as a level-one gimmick in NXT, and they've just kept pushing him, even though it should probably be considered a misfire. The better stuff from him has come out of his "I'm a winner" attitude -- his to-the-point smark on Talking Smack and in the videos hyping his programs with Aries (and maybe Joe -- I honestly can't remember it that clearly).
The browns and grays his wears -- he's just so dull. The dude needs some sort of makeover to help bring more out of him. In my opinion, anyway. He's just...bleak. It's all so bleak. I don't think the answer is to put him in bright yellow or anything, but there's got to be something more they can do to make him seem less dreary.
In this weird sort of way, he reminds me of early Undertaker. In terms of his build and the athleticism he has, but doesn't really know how to put into context on his own yet. If Undertaker had come in to WWF and just been "Mean Mark the Loner," I doubt he would have gotten in the same way that he did. He could have still been pushed to the WWF Title, but it wouldn't have been the success he was. Baron Corbin needs something like that, masking that he's not really all there as a performer yet. I just don't know what it is.
Coming out of Money in the Bank, I'm wondering if the programs are going to be AJ/Dolph, Owens/Zayn and Corbin/Nakamura. At first Corbin/Nakamura sounds a bit dull to me. I don't really know what to expect from them in the ring, but both are in the position where they've got something to prove. I can see Corbin following Naks' lead and really busting ass to have the style of match that each really needs to show they belong on that big stage. It could also be a clunky uncoordinated mess. But if Nakamura is going to be a WWE guy, then he needs to be able to work with WWE guys, I guess.
In my perfect world, Nakamura would win the briefcase from Corbin. I think he gets something from winning the Ladder Match that doesn't necessitate the cash-in. That being said, going all-in with Corbin, I'd have him and Nakamura fight, with the finish ideally being Corbin's End of Days countered into an arm breaker from Nakamura. Corbin turns it into a pin with his weight holding down Nakamura's shoulders. A good way to give Corbin a win that looks a little more polished than his usual "Corbin wins" finish, and allows Nakamura some grace in barely being trounced. Corbin would be all bragging going in, and now he gets to plunk that briefcase down on the Talking Smack desk and brag about how he...well, barely squeaked one out over Nakamura. But he did win -- and from that you can rinse real heat.
I just wish they weren't all-in with him. I still think the best role for him is a little run as a babyface in a tag team with a smaller guy. You can set it up with that babyface getting a few flash pins over him in singles matches. Corbin begins to visibly "lose confidence." Corbin comes out and gives the babyface kudos. In a twist, Corbin's losses have actually been humbling for the "world class athlete." He offers a hand shake and we're not really sure if we can trust Corbin. It leads to tag matches where you're waiting for the Corbin heel turn, but he accepts the hot tag every time, kicking ass and helping his new partner clean up. When he's a bit more seasoned, you can obviously do the heel turn, or just have someone else take out his partner and push Corbin as a babyface against them. I just don't feel this guy as top heel talent right now.
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