Former Baron Corbin would love to compete for NJPW, confirms new wrestling name

The former Baron Corbin has his sights on competing in Japan following his exit from WWE.

Tom Pestock departed WWE in November 2024 when he was informed that his contract would not be renewed. Now free to wrestle elsewhere, he made his indie debut for Game Changer Wrestling over the weekend. Pestock appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet following that show and discussed what his wrestling future might look like.

Pestock said he loves the culture and history of professional wrestling in Japan and would like to wrestle for NJPW. When asked about AEW as a potential option, Pestock said that — out of respect for AEW and its fans — he would prefer to establish himself elsewhere first instead of just coming in as another former WWE guy.

“I would love to go to New Japan, for multiple reasons. And, you know, the door never closes with WWE either. And as far as AEW, their fans, they like that AEW in a sense is its own entity and built from the ground up. And I don’t want to be — If I went there, out of respect for that world, I wouldn’t want to be just another WWE guy that came there because they left WWE. I would rather go and do like New Japan for a year or more, who knows? Maybe that’s where I just love it and I stay there for the rest of my wrestling career,” Pestock said.

“So if I ever did go that route, I would want to kind of clear that, ‘Oh, he’s just a WWE guy coming over.’ Like, Baron Corbin is dead as far as we know. We’re dropping [a] new name, new moniker, new character. I love wrestling. I love the creativeness of it. I love the freedom. I love performing in front of an audience and getting that live feedback in the moment. There’s nothing better.”

Pestock also mentioned TNA and the NWA as potential options for him. He is not interested in being locked into a contract anywhere right now.

Though he wrestled under his real name in his first indie match, Pestock confirmed that he’ll be going by “The Nomad” Bishop Dyer going forward. He filed a trademark for that name on January 21.

“TNA has called, so maybe there’s something there. Maybe NWA. Like, I am open to it all because I love wrestling. And if I can go somewhere and be in front of fans, I’m going to go. It’s just I know that I don’t want to sign a contract right now, because I like this ability. So I’m going with ‘The Nomad’ Bishop Dyer. I’m gonna be The Nomad. I’m gonna roam, man,” Pestock said. “It pays tribute to The Lone Wolf, dire wolf, and then a bishop is higher than a baron, so we’re going up. The rankings are going up. So it’s getting trademarked. So don’t even try it suckers, getting trademarked right now. But I think it’s just a powerful name. It’s a cool name. And I want to be The Nomad, man. I’m gonna float and see where the wrestling world takes me in that sense.”

Because he’s been smart with his money, Pestock is in a position where he can take risks and try out things he wants to do. Outside of wrestling, he mentioned acting in horror movies, appearing on the Food Network, and competing in jiu-jitsu as ambitions he has.

Returning to WWE in the future is something that Pestock thinks could be possible, but he wouldn’t return right now if they called and asked. He views this as an opportunity to establish a new identity. Despite having frustrations with how his run there ended, Pestock is grateful for all of the opportunities he received in WWE.

Pestock’s first non-WWE match was a loss to Josh Barnett at The People vs. GCW this past Sunday. Pestock told Van Vliet that it was a fun experience and he would definitely like to come back to GCW again.

The GCW show took place from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Pestock said there was a moment where he was standing between the Hammerstein Ballroom and Madison Square Garden that made him appreciate where he is at in life right now.

“It was just such a cool moment for me in life in general, to be standing on that corner in between the two buildings. Like, looking [at] past, present, future all at one moment,” he said. “It was like euphoric in a sense. It was just something where it was like, ‘This is cool.’ Like, my life — it’s cool. It’s fun and exciting, and it makes you appreciate it. I think it made me appreciate the show even more with GCW and the opportunity I had to do that [Bloodsport rules] match with Josh and be in front of that crowd. It’s such a cool spectrum and to stand in the middle of it was really awesome.”