Add as a preferred source on Google Baron Corbin made his return to WWE on Friday Night SmackDown this past Friday (July 10) in Oklahoma City, nearly two years after his first run with the company came to an end.
He showed up in the middle of the match between United States Champion Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes, sending it to a no-contest before dropping the End of Days on both men. That put Corbin directly in the mix for Williams’ title.
Despite the surprise, the return had been in the works for at least two months. According to a new update from Fightful Select, Corbin let MLW know back in May that he was on his way out, giving the promotion time to prepare for his exit.
Baron Corbin’s return to WWE had been planned at least since May.
— PW Chronicle (@_PWChronicle) July 13, 2026
Corbin had given notice to MLW back then – hence why MLW replaced him with Josh Bishop.
– per @FightfulSelect pic.twitter.com/Wt6Tjcfozb
At the time, the outlet had already reported that Bishop Dyer — the name Corbin used outside WWE — had wrapped up his commitments with a handful of companies and was either already signed with WWE or close to it.
MLW turned the real-life situation into a storyline. Dyer was stripped of the MLW World Tag Team Championship, leaving Donovan Dijak forced to pick a new partner to hold onto the belts. Josh Bishop stepped into his spot in the Skyscrapers.
Corbin hadn’t been seen in WWE since November 2024, when his contract expired and wasn’t renewed. Away from the company, he also wrestled for GCW and MLP on top of his MLW run, and even worked a dark match for AEW.