The heart wants what it wants, and ever since making his AEW television debut in November of 2020 alongside his father Taz, the internet wrestling community seems to have their heart set on Hook. At the very least, a portion of the IWC seems to be full-on head over heels in love with Hook before ever having an official match, the remaining members of the online wrestling fandom are left to make sense of the countless Hook memes and wonder how all of this began.Updated on January 25st, 2022, by Andrew Kelly: Since his crazy surge in fame amongst the IWC, Hook has finally stepped into an AEW ring as an active competitor. There was a lot of expectation surrounding this second-generation talent, with his talents completely unknown to the audience, but with a lot of love and support behind him. After over a year as someone fans became familiar with onscreen, he had his first match on the December 8th episode of Rampage, at the end of 2021. If Hook wasn’t enough of a sensation already, his stock rose even more following this debut match, with things looking to only be going up for one of AEW’s youngest and most promising individuals, which is saying something considering the competition he has on the roster in terms of potential and youth. The excitement throughout this piece when looking at the eventual Hook debut is a clear indication of how well anticipation was built. The end of this piece will explore more in-depth Hook’s impact upon his in-ring debut.Updated March 14, 2022 by Danny Djeljosevic: At this point, Hook’s in-ring career has lasted for three months, six matches, and 20 minutes of actual in-ring time. Hookamania has been running wild enough that there are some fans that aren’t even aware that Internet love for Hook started off as a somewhat ironic endeavor. After all, spent months as the silent, disaffected member of Team Taz who always had his hand in a bag of chips, Han from Fast & Furious style. It’s only been about a month since the last progress report on Hook, but that’s more than enough time to evaluate a star who made such a strong impression in his first-ever match.
Hook's Name Was Firstly Brought Up By Cody Rhodes
In his previous role as an extra on AEW Dynamite, Hook took part in Maxwell Jacob Friedman’s campaign against Jon Moxley as Max’s “Gum Guy”. It wasn’t until fans learned of the name Hook, and of his bloodline that they began to take notice. Hook was mentioned in a promo from Cody Rhodes as being actively training at the Nightmare Factory in a sort of shot at Taz. Essentially implying “How good can Team Taz be if your son has come to me for training?”. After said promo from Cody, Taz in story pulled Hook from the tutelage of the Nightmare Factory and has cast him alongside the brutes of Team Taz to learn in the field as an enforcer of sorts.
Since that time Hook’s involvement in Team Taz has been subtle at best, as stated he is yet to wrestle, and outside of a choice exploder suplex or dragon sleeper, rarely gets physically involved. So why does the IWC love Hook so much? The answer to that question doesn’t seem to come down to one singular thing, so here are a few educated theories.
Hook's Hair In AEW Is Fantastic
Hook is a good enough looking young man, and it doesn’t take a professor of thirst to recognize where a lot of the unexplained love for the son of the human suplex machine has come from. Recently it was noted the connection that Tony D’Angelo was able to cultivate with the NXT crowd through vignettes, having the crowd behind him before he even stepped in the ring, and having the crowd engaged for what was a fairly basic debut match. It seems to be a similar situation with Hook, multiplied a few times over. Although he hasn’t been active in the ring thus far in AEW, the support he will have the day he finally does may come as a shock to many.
Hookamania Is Running Wild
Some of Hook's biggest fans online have taken to calling themselves “Hookers” and yes many of them do think Hook’s hair is a work of art. When he released a picture online of him in his potential ring gear, that would later be used in a match preview where he would be at ringside, the Hookers of Twitter and Reddit were quick to comment that not only was "Hookamania" still running wild, but the anticipation for his impending in-ring debut was close to reaching a boiling point. That is the secret of the “Hookers”, they may always be at the boiling point.
It’s hard to get a full grasp of Hook’s online support between the over-the-top fanboys/girls, and the others that are just down for the bit or are quick to get behind a good meme. It would be foolish to think of this only as a meme though, Hook has somehow cultivated a real connection with a certain piece of the AEW fan base. Funny to think something as simple as CM Punk saying send for Hook could send shock waves through the internet but that is where the IWC stands. Readers can think what they want, but there is no doubt about it, many seem to already be hooked.
* Hook Has Finally Debuted In AEW, And He Has Taken The World By Storm
Just as the popularity of Hook was still rising, AEW wisely capitalized on this momentum by announcing his debut match, and fans were very excited to see what he had to offer. From the moment the lights dimmed, and his name popped up on the big screen, the fans went wild in the arena, popping hard and chanting his name. The presentation of Hook from this point on has been nothing short of perfect. AEW decided that simple is better, with the titantron being just black and white, with him walking to the ring with swagger and confidence, but not overdoing it or exaggerating his demeanor.
Everything from his legitimately cool Action Bronson entrance music to the camera shots when he’s standing in the corner, back to his opponents, is brilliant. The way Hook disregards his opponent, disrespecting them before the match has even begun showcases a natural confidence which oozes from every pore. And then, when all that was perfect enough, he began wrestling.
Due to his lineage, his style should have been obvious from the get-go, but it was still no less a shock when Hook started dishing out suplexes, judo throws, great transitions, implementing an array of holds, and reversing anything thrown at him. He did all of this with the upmost ease and crispness, looking as though he’d been doing this job for a decade or more. Hook has bulldozed his way through every opponent so far, looking comfortable whilst doing so, and looks to give Team Taz a boost that they so desperately need.
* The Rare Meme That Pays Off
Over the years, there have been a few stars whose impending debut (or re-debut as the case may be) have been hyped over way too much time to the point where it’s become an in-joke among fans. Fans ironically anticipated Hook’s debut thanks to his detached demeanor, but few could have anticipated that the lad was going to be so impressive in his first-ever match.
Hook is best contrasted with characters like WWE’s Veer, whose hype videos have been airing for months, to the point that even WWE seems to be in on the joke. After all, at one point WWE’s Twitter account posted a very self-aware Tweet that read “Send Veer.” Hook has established a gold standard for hyped debuts, thus increasing the perception that Veer is more likely to go the way of Emma’s repackaging into Emmalina — a debut that never really happened. Veer may be wrestling on Main Event, but what happens on that show is rarely if ever acknowledged on Raw or SmackDown.
* Presentation is Everything
Part of Hook’s success thus far — and again, he’s had very little in-ring time to date — all boils down to presentation. Not only does the character follow in his father’s footsteps in terms of wrestling style and finishing maneuver, but he also comes out to a real song that exists outside of wrestling — the kind of treatment reserved for only a handful of stars like CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Jungle Boy, and Ruby Soho.
AEW’s presentation of Hook is just as important as his demonstrable wrestling abilities. The company seems set on treating the rookie like a star in the making, and it’s not hard to buy into that, especially when he appears to be backing it up in the ring so far. Of course, the true test of Hook will be when he wrestles a match longer than five minutes.