Send Hook

It started with a simple phrase in a promo that would spark momentum for one of All Elite Wrestling’s most promising young starts, the second generation grappler known as HOOK. The son of legendary human suplex machine Taz, the newly nicknamed “Handsome Devil” Hook is just as disrespectful and ruthless as his father. Unlike his father, Hook is being backed with a tremendous sized amount of support that started even before he was set to debut. A second generation kid that had few words, and never got into physical altercations, somehow held a certain intensity and promise. This promise that after being recognized by the reception of “send hook”, blossomed into one of the biggest debuts in years.

The Debut

On December 10th 2021, Hook debuted to Action Bronson’s “The Chairman’s Intent”. As the music hit and he strolled down to the ring, his father stood at the announce table clapping for his son. providing emotional commentary. What would happen after is probably one of the greatest rookie debuts over the last 5 years. The crowd reaction was tremendous, Hook’s crowd engagement possessed perfect timing, and his character shined through as a true brass and bold bad guy. Following his booming performance would be the release of his first T-Shirt that was a simple black shit with “HOOK” in all white in the classic Taz font. This shirt would prove that AEW had just found a new future pillar as the T-shirt outsold and broke the sales record of the future Hall of Famer CM Punk, whose shirt rightfully held shirt sales due to his return after a long 7 years.

Potential

In the weeks following his debut there have been two polar reactions to his arrival. One is that of positivity, believing Hook to be the future of the business, and a second contrary opinion that Hook is overhyped and hasn’t proven his in ring ability. Regardless of opinion Hook has proven special, an ability to garner a reaction with very little words, only actions, expressions and smooth grappling and judo ability. Hook has proven to have promise, a certain kind of IT factor that not everyone possesses. If he can proven the critics wrong, who knows where the legacy of team Taz could go.