Hook is one of the new sensations in wrestling, but did you know his actual debut came years before he wrestled his first match in AEW?
Hook’s AEW Debut
Hook made his AEW debut long before he was known as “The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil”. The son of Taz was still learning to wrestle when he first appeared in AEW during the summer of 2020.
Hook first appeared in the background of one of MJF’s skits leading up to his match with Jon Moxley at All Out 2020. MJF put on a presidential campaign-style promo, campaigning against Moxley as AEW Champion and imploring fans to cheer for him instead.
He had a number of staff in his “office” to help him with this, with one of these being “Gum Guy”. Hook played Gum Guy, waring a Burberry mask to cover his face due to the pandemic.
Hook’s job was to give MJF gum. Before he made his debut, MJF fired a previous gum guy for giving him bad gum. After Hook gave MJF chewing gum for the first time, he exclaimed “Wow! This gum guy is good!”.
He would appear regularly on his campaign trail but was never referred to as Hook. He would disappear from TV once MJF and Jon Moxley wrestled at All Out and did no resurface until he began appearing with his father Taz on TV.
Hook’s First Match In AEW
Hook’s first match in AEW was a match on AEW Rampage against Fuego Del Sol His debut had been hyped for weeks, with fans online having built this mythos surrounding the Son of Taz for months leading up to it.
He had appeared in the background of many “Team Taz” promos and was a constant presence on TV. However, he had never done or said anything, leading many to theorise that he was actually the greatest living wrestler.
He was memed intro relevancy, with fans likening him to the silent Yakuza ninja from that episode of The Simpsons. One day he would snap and the world would not be ready to see Hook inside an AEW ring.
Fans finally got to see what Hook could do on December 10th, 2021 when he wrestled his first match in AEW. He took on Fuego Del Sol and was presented as a big star from the off.
He entered the ring to “The Chairman’s Intent” by Action Bronson. Ver few wrestlers at the time had licensed entrance themes so he immediately felt like a big deal. He managed to get the song because he was a good friend of the rapper and would later wrestle a match alongside him in 2022.
As soon as he began his first match in AEW Hook impressed fans immensely. He was crisp, smooth and wrestled a style unlike any other seen in the company.
His counters were incredible, slipping around the ring so smoothly it was like he was on roller-skates. He hit mean suplexes clearly inspired by his father and looked more like a seasoned veteran than an young star in his first ever match.
Hook won his debut match by forcing Fuego ton tap out to the Tazmisson, which had been renamed Redrum. He impressed everyone with his performance and immediatlely became one of the most popular wrestlers in the company, outselling even CM Punk in shirt sales for a time.
He has since gone on to wrestle many matches, even winning the FTW Championship from Ricky Starks in 2022.