Taz's son, Hook, came into the promotion as the fourth man of Team Taz. The silent threat of a cold-hearted enforcer looming in the back of an objectively low-tier heel faction most notable for their incredible chemistry and internal squabbling over a strap of orange pleather and tin called the FTW (Screw The World) Championship.
Don't get it twisted: everyone in the Team Taz stable came out of it a star. These young guys conveyed–"put over"– the importance of an unrecognized non-championship, and did so in the most prestigious alternative wrestling promotion in the world. Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky Starks, Brian Cage, hell, even Dante Martin if you wanna make the argument? Friggin' amazing how well they all lived up to their potential by the end of Team Taz.
But then there was Hook. What did we make of Hook? He wasn't as physically imposing as the others. I think he even came into the promotion under the legal drinking age. Even in the four minutes that cruiserweight Dante Martin stood alongside Hook, they looked of equal stature. In every promo, there stood Hook. In the background. Mostly eating chips and wearing a hoodie, looking more the part of the stoner couch potato (get it?!) roommate than the grave, frighteningly credible threat his peers billed him as.
Many didn't buy it, myself included, if for no other reason than look at his peers! Why would Hook need to stand with giants? It was enough he stood among them. Then Taz crossed Dante Martin. When a supposed alliance ended with the Dante half of Top Flight making Team Taz collectively look the fool, the order came down from the man himself: "Send Hook."
"Send Hook" had long been something of an AEW meme. An empty threat occasionally made but never acted upon. "Send Hook" evoked images of the cop from Dukes of Hazzard stomping his hat in frustration at being had again. This time, something was different.
Hook debuted on Rampage (back when that meant something) that Friday, and just behold the audience's real-time evolution from jokingly cheering for Hook to full-throated adoration. This is five of the best minutes you will ever watch, and I am not even kidding:
Here's the thing, though. Like his father's WWE arrival 20 years prior, Hook could only get the debut pop once. And you know what I say to that? Who cares. I don't believe in curses! Since then, Hook has gone above and beyond in bearing the weight of those expectations, but he could never live up to that one amazing first night in the ring. He should not have to.
The incredible strides Hook has made this early in his career should be enough. Remember when Jeff Hardy was considered sloppy and dangerous (the first time)? He needed minutes in the ring to perform where the only expectation is "hang in the ring for eight or so minutes with a steady, veteran hand and get the fans to invest in you through a 2-and-a-half-star match."
Hook's skillset stems from startling explosiveness, superhuman core strength, and lightning-fast precise technical submissions. His thing–both good and for ill–is that he's basically never been in the deep water before. Hook beats all of his opponents in a handful of minutes or less. He comes out the gate with the fury of a sledgehammer, shakes off the retaliatory barrage, then comes back to win with one big surge of video game strength and just Cloud Strifes a motherfucker into the canvas.
Nobody held new stars to such insane expectations following a debut when I started watching wrestling in the mid-90s. At least the fans didn't. The Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian didn't put on No Mercy '99 ladder matches every night on Raw and Smackdown, and nobody expected them to. Sometimes it was good enough if one of them just wrestled Road Dogg in a match a lot of fans took a piss during. That's fine. The skills they're training in so-called "throwaway matches" are the ones that will someday make classics. We have a blueprint. They don't have to come pre-assembled.
Hook had an incredible debut. That doesn't mean he won't keep getting better with time. But he can't always be at the top of his game. It's unfair to hang to all those expectations on Hook.
No, I didn't just write this whole thing to make that one joke. I had a point about the giving him time to grow thing, too. But the joke was really good.
Hook debuted on Rampage (back when that meant something) that Friday, and just behold the audience's real-time evolution from jokingly cheering for Hook to full-throated adoration. This is five of the best minutes you will ever watch, and I am not even kidding:
Here's the thing, though. Like his father's WWE arrival 20 years prior, Hook could only get the debut pop once. And you know what I say to that? Who cares. I don't believe in curses! Since then, Hook has gone above and beyond in bearing the weight of those expectations, but he could never live up to that one amazing first night in the ring. He should not have to.
The incredible strides Hook has made this early in his career should be enough. Remember when Jeff Hardy was considered sloppy and dangerous (the first time)? He needed minutes in the ring to perform where the only expectation is "hang in the ring for eight or so minutes with a steady, veteran hand and get the fans to invest in you through a 2-and-a-half-star match."
Hook's skillset stems from startling explosiveness, superhuman core strength, and lightning-fast precise technical submissions. His thing–both good and for ill–is that he's basically never been in the deep water before. Hook beats all of his opponents in a handful of minutes or less. He comes out the gate with the fury of a sledgehammer, shakes off the retaliatory barrage, then comes back to win with one big surge of video game strength and just Cloud Strifes a motherfucker into the canvas.
That's amazing! Enjoy that! I'd pay to see that again, wouldn't you?!
Just enjoy watching merely good, fun matches! Not every night can be Hook's first night. Statistically, most of them won't be! And yet somehow the newcomer nobody took seriously now finds himself bearing the ironic Sisyphean punishment of trying to please an audience expecting those same first-time highs twice a week, but better. Nothing can meet that first flash of brilliance. Give him a break. He's like 24 years old.
And you know what? Even if Hook's not a top drawing talent, there's no one else in the business like him. Don't you miss Ken Shamrock? Here's new Ken Shamrock but different and in every way better at fighting but also handsome.
Nobody held new stars to such insane expectations following a debut when I started watching wrestling in the mid-90s. At least the fans didn't. The Hardy Boyz and Edge and Christian didn't put on No Mercy '99 ladder matches every night on Raw and Smackdown, and nobody expected them to. Sometimes it was good enough if one of them just wrestled Road Dogg in a match a lot of fans took a piss during. That's fine. The skills they're training in so-called "throwaway matches" are the ones that will someday make classics. We have a blueprint. They don't have to come pre-assembled.
Hook had an incredible debut. That doesn't mean he won't keep getting better with time. But he can't always be at the top of his game. It's unfair to hang to all those expectations on Hook.
No, I didn't just write this whole thing to make that one joke. I had a point about the giving him time to grow thing, too. But the joke was really good.
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