WWE: Did Baron Corbin reveal a secret plan for TLC on Raw?

Did General Manager Elect Baron Corbin hint at a possible interference during the Intercontinental Championship match that’s due to take place at WWE TLC?

This past week’s WWE Raw kicked off in an unexpected way. As the crowd sung the well-known ‘burn it down’ lyrics from Seth Rollins’ music, the lights hit, revealing The Architect, standing alone in the middle of the ring. This wasn’t so unusual as we’ve seen Superstars do this before, no, what was unexpected was what was on Rollins’ agenda.

Rollins declared that his entrance lyrics were to be his “rallying cry” this Sunday at TLC in his match against Dean Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship, as well as the theme of that night’s Raw in San Diego. However, Rollins was not there to call out Ambrose as he was not “into playing games” that night. Instead, The King Slayer extended an invitation for General Manager Elect, Baron Corbin to join him in the ring.

This was an odd move as I’m sure the crowd were anticipating Rollins to cut a promo on former Shield brother turned fierce rival Dean Ambrose, given their current emotion filled feud. But no, instead, the crowd witnessed Rollins echo the voices of the WWE Universe as he held Corbin to account for Raw’s poorly received performance in recent weeks, strongly stating that “Monday Night Raw has sucked” under Corbin’s ‘leadership’.

Obviously upset by these remarks, Corbin retorted by declaring that he didn’t care what Rollins thinks, he didn’t care what the locker room thinks, and he sure as hell didn’t care what the crowd thinks.

But what Corbin said next may have hinted at a prediction for the outcome of TLC: “Raw is my show and if you don’t like it, that’s too bad because I’m going to be in charge for a very long time and if you think it’s bad now, it’s only going to get worse for a guy like you.”

“Let me spell it out for you,” Corbin continued, “This Sunday, Dean Ambrose is gonna beat you for that Intercontinental Championship and then I’m gonna beat Braun Strowman in a TLC match by forfeit,” and thus becoming the permanent General Manager of Monday Night Raw.

If we were to read very closely between these lines, Corbin’s words may have suggested his intentions to interfere in Rollins’ match against Ambrose, subsequently costing Rollins his Intercontinental title and maybe even pair up with Ambrose in the future. If this is true, then there are a few possible reasons behind this decision.

One reason is that it could be a move to give Ambrose more heat from the audience. Since his turn, it appears as if Ambrose hasn’t been receiving as much heat that was expected from his turn against The Shield. From his titantron promo that discussed Roman Reigns “answering to the man upstairs” to his live jabs at whatever city they’re in, Ambrose has been met with quite a quiet reaction from the crowd, whereas Corbin has been drowning in the crowd’s unmistakable boos for weeks.

Even at the beginning of Rollins’ promo Corbin had a louder reaction than Ambrose when either name was mentioned. So maybe Corbin’s involvement in the Rollins Ambrose feud would be a way to get the crowd to react louder to Ambrose.

Corbin further fueled this speculation with his line: “Until the day you quit I am going to put you through hell,” flexing his authoritarian muscles as he threatened Rollins, suggesting his further involvement in their feud.

The GM Elect went on to illustrate how he can use his power against Rollins in their TLC match later that night. Corbin was able to manipulate Heath Slater as a referee, so could we see Slater play a part in the Rollins vs. Ambrose match? That will be a question to watch when TLC begins tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET on the WWE Network.