Tom Pestock (Baron Corbin) Explains Why He Was Upset After A Writer Said, ‘We Need Bodies For Jacob Fatu’

Tom Pestock (Baron Corbin) was utilized in a variety of ways during his 12-year run in WWE, filling a role from the top of the card to the bottom of the card.

Pestock often put over top guys who were on their way or already established as world championship talent.

Related Article

Adam Cole And Costco Guys (Big Boom! AJ And Big Justice) Bring The Boom To AEW Collision: Homecoming

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Pestock recalled a conversation with a writer who used a term that he was not thrilled with.

“I almost lost it one time. I was so angry, and I don’t get angry that easy over stuff like this. I try not to let people control my emotions. I was sitting with the head writer of SmackDown, and it still makes my blood boil because it doesn’t pertain just to me, but I was like, ‘Do we have any ideas? What are you thinking creatively?’ He’s like, ‘We have Jacob [Fatu] up and running. We’re going to need bodies for him.’ We’re not bodies. Nobody on this roster is just a body. That was so frustrating to hear. It doesn’t pertain to me, but this is what you think of? I’ve been here 12 years and I’m a body for somebody else? If you want to say something like that, go, ‘We think you’d be great to help build Jacob. You’d make him look like a monster.’ Let’s go. ‘We’re going to need bodies.’ He’s referring to the bottom half of our roster. It’s so disrespectful to say that about people who go out there and put their life on the line every night. Careers can be ended in an instant. Look at Big E. One suplex wrong and he may never wrestle again. It can end like that. You can end up a quadriplegic; all of these things can happen. It’s your livelihood and how you put food on the table.

“I’m grateful to have a long career that I don’t have to worry about that. If you’re three years in and just a body and disregarded as not even a human being, in a sense, come on. It takes everybody. Guys who are there to be extras are just as important as talent. Without those guys, we don’t have major superstars. You need guys that can do that and do it well. That’s harder sometimes than being the top guy when everything is fed to you, and you’re given every opportunity, and you’re built on this pedestal. When you’re the dude clawing at the bottom trying to get there, it’s way harder to be down there and survive and be happy and successful than to be ‘this is our guy and everything funnels to him.’ That’s easy to be up there. The only hard part is the amount of time it takes. When you’re put on a pedestal, it’s much easier than being a guy fighting for those two or three minutes. To refer to them as bodies….I said something and he was like, ‘I didn’t think of how I said it that way.’”

Pestock never faced Fatu in WWE.

Elsewhere during the interview, Pestock explained why Baron Corbin is dead. You can find his full comments by clicking here.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit and link to the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.