Behind the scenes details regarding Bishop Dyer (formerly Baron Corbin) having a match prior to AEW Dynamite

And of course, I think any wrestler on the planet knows the rule, always bring your gear. I threw it in the truck and brought it with me. I got there and saw my man Billy Gunn, who was like a dad to me. He’s always been my guy that I’ve leaned on through a lot of stuff in the wrestling world. And they had the dark match because he was working with his son, Austin. And he’s like, ‘Hey, man, do you want to be in this dark match with us?’ I was like, ‘Dude, if it gets okay, I’m sold.’

Number one, super cool that Tony [Khan] was like, ‘Yeah, dude, let him go. Let Bishop Dyer do his thing and have fun in this dark match and be a part of the show.’ Welcomed me to it with open arms, and the talent’s always awesome there. I love seeing all the talent and guys I want to work with and guys I’ve met for the first time.

I didn’t know how that crowd was going to react to me. AEW crowd is definitely a different species, and they can get wild and get crazy. And so I was a little just weary before you make the entrance. And when I did and they popped hard, I was like, ‘oh, baby, there it is. That’s the feeling.’

It was funny because people are still learning the new name, especially in the wrestling world, but they know the face. They’ve seen it for a long time. The Tron came up, said, Bishop Dyer is my music, and they you could hear the people who knew, knew. But then when I walked out, it was pretty awesome. When I got into the light and that crowd and me watching thousands of people there, it’s the first time I’ve been in front of a crowd that size in a while, seeing them come out of their seats and stand up and cheer. I’m used to a career of boos. The crowd, even when I tagged in, just in the beginning, big pop, people standing up. It was… I don’t know, dude, it’s one of those things that there’s nothing in this world that feels like that when you get that reaction, booing or cheering.”