Bishop Dyer marches to his own beat

Sully Khan

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Nomads aren’t just a thing of the ancient past. Just ask Bishop Dyer, who has adapted the moniker as a wayfaring wrestler.

‘The Nomad’ faces Anthony Greene at Blood & Thunder August 9 in the first round of the MLW Opera Cup. That will be the latest stop on his unpredictable journey.

Formerly known as King / Baron Corbin during his 13-year run in WWE, this new chapter of Tom Pestock’s career is one that he thinks should have happened sooner for him.

“I want to travel the world and show people, because I did this all backwards.” Dyer said in a recent interview with SlamWrestling.net. “I came from the NFL to WWE, where most guys train in the independents. They build a name, they get an opportunity to [go to] WWE, and that’s where they go. And now you have AEW in the mix, which is absolutely amazing. So there’s a plethora of opportunity out there.”

The Lenexa, KS native plans on seizing every chance he gets.

“I’m going to now travel the world on my own accord. I’m searching for every opportunity, whether it’s MLW, MLP, I’m going to go do a show for CMLL. I would love to get to New Japan. I want to travel the world and show people [how good I am].”

“You never know where you’re going to see me.”

At Blood and Thunder on August 9, Dyer will square-off against Anthony Greene in the first round of the 2025 MLW Opera Cup. Dyer may have a game plan ready but he’s going to keep his opponent guessing.

“I think he can expect that I’m going to punch him in the face and it’s really going to hurt. So how many times is he going to get up? Is he going to keep fighting through getting hit with a Death Valley Driver or Deep Six? Or am I going to rip his head off with a Clothesline?”

Although he’s labelled himself as a nomad, Dyer might be a constant presence in Major League Wrestling.

“I think MLW is absolutely unbelievable … It’s pushed me even further and harder in the way that I work, in the way I train to compete.”

Having these new opportunities to wrestle all over the globe has not just opened Dyer’s eyes to the depth of the talent that exists, but also given him another purpose to get out there and have different matches.

Bishop Dyer and Dijak hold up their newly-won MLW Tag Team Titles. Photo courtesy of MLW.
The Skyscrapers (Bishop Dyer and Dijak) hold up their newly-won MLW Tag Team Titles. Photo courtesy of MLW.

“I want to kind of make that aim for all the people for 80% of my career that hated me, couldn’t stand me, ran their mouths on social media, saying, ‘He’s got four moves. It’s just a cool finish. That’s it. He’s not that good.’ Now I’m about to prove to you guys, ‘Dude, I’m that good, trust me.'”

His first two experiences wrestling post-WWE were a Bloodsport match against Josh Barnett and an NWA Men’s World Heavyweight Title match against an old friend of his, Thom Latimer, at Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling’s Mayhem in Windsor, ON earlier this year.

“If I saw Thom Latimer again, I’d be taking that title home with me. It would not be going with him. It’s about getting your footing in a new field.” Almost in the same breath, he made sure not to discredit the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion.

“He is an unbelievable talent,” Dyer said.

“The cool thing is I worked with him 10-12 years ago when we were in FCW together so I knew how dangerous he [can be]. I knew the path he was on and has been on. The result was not at all what I wanted. And it just made me realize, this is the real deal out here.” For Dyer, this meant making sure he stayed on top of his own fitness and training.

Apart from honing his skills in the ring, the former football player also happens to be a coffee connoisseur. When traveling, there’s one thing Dyer always looks for.

“The first thing I do is go find a good coffee shop. I want a really good coffee. I want to see how they do it in different parts of the world. And I got to thinking, ‘I want to create this culture of coffee and help it grow and really show people how good a cup of coffee or an espresso can be.'”

As for his own preference, Dyer is a cortado guy.

“It’s not just Starbucks … I want specialty. I want something that people have put their hands on, physically, that are serving it to you.”

Coffee has developed into much more than just a passion born out of curiosity for Dyer. He followed through on wanting to contribute to coffee culture with the opening of Open Air Coffee.

“I’m importing the coffee. I’m looking physically at the green coffee. I’ve cupped it. I cup score it. I import smaller farmers’ coffee so it’s not just mass produced with defects. I’m looking at exactly what I’m buying, then I roast it myself. So it’s getting my touch on that.” he said.

“If I’m cooking you a home cooked meal, I’m putting my love and energy into this and creating something. I’m roasting it, I’m bagging and I’m shipping it. I’m doing it all myself. And it was a hobby just to get good coffee out there to people. And it’s turning into a legitimate business.”

Dyer has many answers for places that stand out to him for how they go about their coffee, including Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and a specific place in Mallorca, Spain.

For Dyer and some of his colleagues, coffee is a way to connect.

“It’s funny because I was in Lille, France wrestling a month ago and I texted Finn Balor, ‘Man, I really miss you. And our coffee adventures wandering the streets before shows’, because he, Sami Zayn, Gable, and Cesaro [now known as Claudio Castagnoli] and I would wander the streets of Barcelona, Madrid, or Scotland. Everybody’s teeth would be chattering because we’ve had so much coffee,” he reflected fondly.

“But it’s just something you can do that it’s not affecting your weight too much. It was funny because he’s like, ‘Man, I miss that too.’ Like going and getting their cortado, if you’re a cortado there, trying all three out, I’ll pick a spot, you pick a spot, and then we see which one we like better. It’s a bonding thing for me and some of the boys.”

Even nomads sometimes need to move as a group.

Dyer’s passion for wrestling is evident in every match he’s a part of, every clothesline he lays someone out with, and every Deep Six his opponents succumb to. He traces the origin of that passion back to two key names.

“I loved big athletic guys like Razor Ramon, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash. There are so many big guys that were athletic and could move. Undertaker. Obviously, Kane is one of my heroes. But true first sparked the love for it? Bam Bam Bigelow and Big Boss Man.”

Having won the MLW Tag Team Titles with Dijak June 26 against Los Depredadores (Magnus & Rugido), Dyer expects more good things coming his way in 2025.

“I’m going to get the Opera Cup. And I think for me, it’s just continuing to open my eyes to this whole world I didn’t necessarily know existed to the level that I’ve experienced so far. I don’t want to sign with one company to limit me to where I’m at,” he said confidently. Spoken like a true nomad.

“2025 for me, is all about experiencing every bit of it that I can get and collecting as many titles and awards I can.”

Who knows where Dyer will show up later in 2025? Gabe Kidd, Zach Sabre, Jr., BZW’s Cara Noir (in a singles match), Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita, David Finlay, and Will Ospreay are some of the names Dyer would love to mix it up with in the ring.

“I just want to challenge a lot of these people that have different styles. I want to get in the ring [with them] and see if I’m as good as I really believe I am.”

Major League Wrestling presents Blood & Thunder Aug. 9 at 10pm EST on beIN Sports and be streamed for free on MLW’s YouTube channel. MLW presents Fightland Sept. 13 in Dallas.

TOP PHOTO: Bishop Dyer, ‘The Nomad’, connects on a clothesline during a show. Photo courtesy of MLW.

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