Backstage details regarding the development of the Happy Corbin character

During an appearance on Ryan Satin’s Out of Character podcast, Happy Corbin talked about Vince McMahon’s role in the development of the gimmick…

“I think being around Vince for years, or Triple H, they start to learn your personality, so they tailor characters based on their interactions with you over the years. It could have been something with Vince when I was making him laugh or just having fun and being one of the guys with him. He’s like, ‘I have this idea where you’re just over the top happy. People don’t like you. They’re really not going to like you when you’re really happy all the time.’ It works and it’s just fun.”

“That was 100% Vince. I heard it actually on Twitter. They’re like, ‘WWE just copy wrote Happy Corbin.’ I’m like, what? I was confused. I asked them and they said, ‘We really don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Sure enough a couple weeks later, they said, ‘Your name is Happy Corbin now.’ So Twitter knew before I knew. That’s how you find out a lot of stuff. I had no idea.”

“I honestly believe that the Sad Corbin wasn’t supposed to last as long as it did. From what I understand, it was supposed to be a two week thing. I was going to lose the crown and get a little bit depressed. It became very entertaining and I had a lot of fun because it was the polar opposite of anything I had ever done. I think that’s what’s fun about this job for me is it doesn’t become monotonous when you continually evolve. It was this miserable guy with a dirty shirt. The worst part was not being able to cut the hair or the beard. I got a text message at like 2AM from Vince that said, ‘Don’t shave or cut your hair.’ After like three weeks, I have the Costanza hair going. The best part is I was visiting schools for my daughter. They are private schools. My daughter is 2 ½. I’m going in. My beard and hair, and you can’t wear a hat into these places, and I look ridiculous. I said, ‘I have to apologize for how I look. It’s my job.’ It’s private schools and they’re judging me the second I walk in.” (quotes courtesy of WrestlingNews.co)