Bishop Dyer, the wrestler formerly known as Baron Corbin, made a surprising appearance in an AEW ring prior to the January 21 edition of Dynamite. Competing in a dark match, Dyer teamed with Martin Stone, Hadar Horvitz, and Ori Gold in a losing effort against The Gunns, Brady Booker, and Elijah Drago. While the match was not televised, it generated significant buzz online, leading Dyer to discuss the experience on Off The Ropes with Jonathan Coachman. During the interview, Dyer shared the feedback he received from AEW President Tony Khan immediately following the bout.
Dyer noted that despite the frantic nature of a live TV production, Khan took a moment to praise the performance. Dyer recalled, “I know Tony (Khan) told me afterwards, he was like, ‘The match was so fun. I enjoyed it,’ and obviously, he’s working his ass off back there. I’m not gonna bother him with anything other than, ‘Thank you for allowing me to do that with Billy and Austin’ so that was the extent of our conversation.” The brief but positive interaction suggests that the door remains open for future collaboration between the former King of the Ring and AEW, even as he continues his run in Major League Wrestling.
Interestingly, Dyer revealed that his participation in the show was largely due to happenstance and weather-related logistical changes. He explained that his original intention was simply to drive his friend Paul Wight (The Big Show) to the venue and visit with peers. However, a severe winter storm in Texas forced AEW to cancel the Collision taping in Arlington and move it to Orlando on the same night as Dynamite. Dyer explained, “The highlight of my day was not only being in the ring, with that crowd, because the crowd was just f***ing awesome through and through. But, the whole thing started because I went to pick up Big Show to take Big Show up to Orlando for the show and to just see my people, and they ended up switching their shows last night and adding Collision post-Dynamite, because there’s supposed to be a snowstorm.”
The schedule change meant a long night for everyone involved, with Dyer noting they didn’t leave the venue until after midnight. “So they did it last night, and we stayed through the end. So we didn’t leave Orlando till like 12:20, 12:30 at night. Drove back to Tampa, got to Odessa, dropped the big man off… Great time, great stories. I love that man to death,” he said. Currently, Dyer is holding gold as one-half of the MLW World Tag Team Champions with Donovan Dijak. Whether this AEW appearance was a one-off or a sign of things to come remains to be seen, but with AEW Revolution approaching in March, fans will be keeping a close eye on the “Free Agent” market.
