WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield has returned to SmackDown for a new storyline.
Kayla Braxton interviewed Happy Baron Corbin backstage about last week’s loss to Ricochet on Friday night’s WWE Clash at The Castle go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX. Corbin refused to discuss the match because he is happy and lives a good life, and he does not dwell on the past. He continued his promo by saying he knows he’s the best man in the locker room and that he was on his way to the ring to issue an open challenge. Whoever answered his open challenge, Corbin vowed to send them crawling back no matter who approached them.
Shinsuke Nakamura then responded to Corbin’s open challenge and won. Corbin was later seen in the back parking garage, looking disappointed, when a white BMW limousine with JBL’s distinctive horns on the front pulled up. This can be seen in the video below. ” The Wrestling God” spoke as the window rolled down.
“What happened to you? Get in,” JBL said to Corbin.
The two then departed in the limousine after Corbin entered it. Although JBL was never displayed, Michael Cole acknowledged on the commentary that the former WWE Champion sounded familiar.
Friday night’s SmackDown was taped in Detroit last Friday. JBL was rumored to be taking part in the taping before it was understood that he was actually filming a WWE Rivals episode with Renee Paquette, Kevin Owens, Johnny Gagano, and Freddie Prinze, Jr. at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. This confirms that JBL was not in Detroit for the garage segment with Corbin, but he did do the voice-over.
JBL is unlikely to wrestle in this new SmackDown programme with Corbin. After losing the 25-second WWE Intercontinental Title match to Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania 25 in April 2009, he last competed in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match in 2014. JBL recently appeared for WWE as a commentary and Kickoff guest. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the 2020 Class during the ceremony in April 2021.
Maybe JBL is here to help Corbin get out of his rut, which will lead to a push for the 2019 King of The Ring winner. Corbin won the SmackDown Battle Royal on July 1, but his most recent singles victory on TV was a DQ victory over Madcap Moss on June 3 SmackDown. Aside from that DQ victory, Corbin’s most recent TV singles win via submission or pinfall was the February 11 SmackDown victory over Cesaro (aka ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli), which is also his only TV singles win via submission or pinfall in 2022. Corbin has also lost the majority of his non-televised weekend live events matches this year, but excluding those, Corbin has lost all eight of his most recent TV singles bouts. Corbin has lost the following TV singles matches since his DQ victory over Moss on June 3: No Holds Barred match against Moss at Hell In a Cell on June 5; Last Laugh match against Moss on the June 17 SmackDown; Fatal 4 Way on the July 1 SmackDown with winner Moss, Ezekiel and The Miz; match against Pat McAfee at SummerSlam on July 30; match against Ricochet on the August 5 SmackDown; 5-Way with winner Sheamus, Moss, Ricochet and Sami Zayn on the August 19 SmackDown; match against Ricochet on the August 26 SmackDown; match against Nakamura on Friday night’s SmackDown.
Corbin’s WWE character has seen various changes in recent years. Corbin has gone from “The Lone Wolf” to “King” to his current “Happy” persona.
There’s no word yet on what WWE has in store for JBL and Corbin, but we’ll keep you posted.
Here are the related clips from tonight’s SmackDown:
Wait…was that @JCLayfield?!@BaronCorbinWWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/ZjTanAIjLU
— WWE (@WWE) September 3, 2022
