Hook

[4.0] "Hook is one of these guys that never lived up to his potential, partially due to Tony Khan's inability to book him good, & partially due to the fact that, sadly, he's just not particularly good in ring. I was enamored at first but as time went on it became clear that he didn't have much of a wish to diversify his ring work & even more unfortunately, we're learning with time that he's just not very good at talking, either. I think that he should maybe stick around with Samoa Joe & focus on tagging with him. It might do him a world of good."

[3.0] "Stilted wrestling, clearly coddled and overpushed, can't talk, and certainly doesn't have the look of a suplex machine or tough guy despite his billing. His FTW title reign was okay but he hasn't seemingly improved at all since, and has had pretty light presence in wrestling. All the time off doesn't seem to be spent on improving. Flagrant case of nepotism holding someone up."

[6.0] "Cut him some slack. 26 is fairly young in pro-wrestling, He definitely needs to improve, but overall, he isn't the worst thing to ever happen. Give him time to bulk, and maybe a few years in ROH, and he can deffo be someone who is a legitimate threat, and a credible wrestler. He was thrusted into the main-event scene, and was expected to float. He's a nepo-baby, but it's not like the nepo-baby can't wrestle. He needs time to improve somewhere where he can truly shine, AEW is not that place, especially when they're red hot, like right now. I definitely feel bad for him, 4 years in the industry is such a short amount. Here's hoping he ages like a fine wine. Also his theme is fucking amazing? Go listen to it it sounds like frank sinatra, which is fucking crazy?"

[5.0] "He's named Hook because his father is from Red Hook in Brooklyn. Hook himself is from a ritzy area of Manhattan but I digress. Hook has potential but he was put in a position he wasn't ready for. He's far from a lost cause and far from being privileged like Dominick Mysterio. There's probably more nepotism in wrestling now than there ever was but Hook isn't carrying titles and having ppv matches."

"What really needs to be said? The consistent decline of the annual ratings for HOOK shows how the initial hype for HOOK that largely came from a random CM Punk promo as well as being Taz's son is completely dead now. As someone whose in-ring wrestling career started at the tail end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, it's pretty much impossible to find any evolution with HOOK. He never really got muscular enough to even do a "silent badass" gimmick and it comes off more as comical when you see him suplexing guys that are easily 50-75 pounds heavier than him. As bad as his in-ring matches are, his lack of any real personality or mic skills can be considered his true weak points. He seems afraid to do live promos and AEW never gave him a platform to succeed or fail in places like ROH where there is far less pressure to learn how to show personality when talking to his opponents or the audience. As a result, you have an aimless wrestler who has been wrestling since the end of 2021 and still hasn't gotten to a total of 100 matches in his career as of the end of March 2026. In fact, he has only had 2 matches in all of 2026 and only one was in AEW. At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if he becomes a regular on the ROH Jacksonville tapings or gets completely phased out. Perhaps a trip to WWE NXT will give him the beneficial environment he deserves but this could simply be a case of someone who simply isn't cut out for the demands of professional wrestling. Rating: 1/10"

[4.0] "I know Hook has only been wrestling for a very few years but the man has only had one good match in his entire career which is not a good ratio for someone who has been in shows as much as he has had."

[1.0] "Truly, one of the worst wrestlers signed to a major company. It blows my mind he is still given opportunities when it is clear he has no talent, he's not a special athlete, he cannot talk on the mic, he has zero charisma, and his matches range from boring and mediocre to absolutely awful all the while showing zero improvement over the nearly 5 years he's been in AEW. I desperately hope AEW moves on from him so he can no longer take up a spot and TV time from more deserving wrestlers."

[4.0] "He does a fine enough job in the ring, and he can do a decent short promo with some good tough guy vibes, but he's lost a lot of luster since his first year and some change. I fully expected him to be in a solid mid card title scene by now and it just...never happened. Idk if he didn't improve enough for TK's liking, or if he hit his ceiling with the FTW Title, but idk. He's fine enough in the Opps but he's unlikely to get too much out of it aside from TV time and pin eating, which hurts to see, since he was positioned early on as a up and coming monster back when Rampage was around"

[2.0] "I will put him with five, because I am a hooper. Still believe he is improving each day even more and being with Samoa Joe kinda raise my hope on him, but man...his past does not have a good showing at all. Literally the only pretty good thing related with him was the match he had with Samoa Joe. Oh, and his partnership with Danhausen was quite funny, mostly because of Danhausen. EDIT=Nah I gave up on him, he is just so bad."

[4.0] "Why is he called Hook? What does Hook mean? He's not believable at all. His father was in the business and that's why he's in the position he's in. He's so young so he can improve (definitely if his ring name is changed), but seeing him shoved into a faction with absolut legends of this business like Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata was frankly laughable."

[3.0] "AEW has spent several years investing in the improvement of Hook. Sadly, that improvement just hasn't happened yet. His character work continues to be extremely unconvincing, especially when he's constantly surrounded by main-event talent."

[0.0] "Everything about him screams bad to me. He's only in the position he is because he's the son of Taz and Samoa Joe loves him since he's friends with Taz. His in ring work is green and sloppy. He hasn't got an ounce of charisma at all and his lame ass theme won't help with that at all. His character is supposed to be some sort of non-chalant teenager but to me it just looks like a charisma vaccum. He's had one good match in his whole career. That's unacceptable when you're in the spot that Hook is currently in. His work with Chrisitian was the worst I've seen from Christian too. Interesting that he was feuding with hook during it..."

[4.0] "I hate to say it but I think Hook might not have what it takes to reach the next level. I was down for him initially. He had a good look- anyone complaining about him not being 275 pounds of pure muscle has no idea what non-heavyweight combat sports physiques typically look like and should subsequently be pointed and laughed at- and despite his limitations and his inexperience what he could do in his first couple years in the ring looked solid enough. He couldn't talk to save his life unlike his amazing father but maybe that would come in time. Now that time has passed, however, it's become apparent that he's still completely lacking in something major. I'm not sure what it is exactly, is it a lack of motivation? He has barely progressed in nearly any aspect of professional wrestling over the past four years. He's still not even remotely a charismatic promo even though he physically carries himself well, he's had subpar matches with great wrestlers when he goes longer than two minute squashes, and while I'm not as attuned to AEW in the past couple years or so I have seen similarly young and new wrestlers easily pass him in nearly every way. The overall lack of matches doesn't help, maybe he needs to work as many indies as possible before they all inexplicably die out and we end up in a hell where there's only massive corporations enshittifying our beloved graps. I really don't know though. I don't think he's a lost cause outright as he's still not even thirty, there's plenty of time for a major breakthrough to happen. He's currently working onscreen with Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata and I can't think of a better pair of legendary pro wrestlers to help nurture a young talent as I safely assume they're helping him offscreen as well. For now though, I just question whether he'll ever be more than "Taz's kid." Here's hoping he proves me wrong in the future."

[1.0] "A nothing wrestler, truly. besides a pretty good match against Joe what has he done. Had two minute meme tag teams with Jungle Boy, or Danhausen, or the singer to is old song (Action Bronson I think). All he does is squash matches. Less then 100 matches in 5 years, if i was in charge of AEW I would not keep him around at all, either start working the indies and having proper matches and maybe I use you, or you are out."

[2.0] "I literally can't get behind him, he's just boring and bland. All I get is a silent tough guy with no personality. Hook is just one of those people where you can't enjoy anything about him, cause nothing about him stands out for people to enjoy him. He can't cut promos, he's meh in the ring, and like I said, no personality. His feud with Jericho was horrible and his title reigns with the FTW title were all worthless"

[4.0] "Hook hasn't really clicked for me, tbh. I don't mind him and I think he's had some cool matches and moments, but I can't really think of any specific segment he's done that's great. I do like the idea of him learning under guys like Joe, Hobbs and Shibata and I think he's better suited as a douchey heel. I hope the current run goes well."

[3.0] "I really haven't seen anything from him that is convincing whatsoever. He is small and has no personality, yet keeps getting booked as this scrappy Little Mac type. I really hope he can improve as he is still young, but until then he is Taz's nepobaby."

[0.0] "Truly no redeeming factors. He does nothing for me. Nothing about him entertains me. He only brings pain and suffering on the world of professional wrestling. And also, I dislike his hair. And I also dislike how many people like his hair. Even putting him into a tag team with Eddie Kingston couldn't make him interesting. Eddie Kingston could make a damp biscuit interesting. Just because someone was a bit gay with Danhausen for a bit doesn't mean we can keep letting them get away with these heinous crimes against the beautiful sport and art of professional wrestling. I cannot remember a single wrestling move I have ever seen him do. Why? Because they are all boring. Because he is boring."

[5.0] "Honestly has not been working for me the recent year or two with Hook. I get how young he is and all that, but he's not a rookie anymore. I haven't seen the growth that I've wanted out of him overt the years and I think that it comes down to style of wrestling and character. I don't think either have suited him well as he doesn't get the chance to work with anyone outside of being a jobber. Too many of his matches have been straight up squash matches to protect him, but eventually to need to see something more than that. I hope that his recent heel turn brings out a new personality from him, but for now I have to give him a low rating."

[4.0] "Maybe a gimmick change would help but he's just too small to be intimidating. He doesn't look terrible in the ring but for someone his size I feel like he should move a little quicker and maybe switch out the overpowering bruiser move set of his dad for a more quick striker flyer style like Mike Bailey. Just can't take Hook seriously, he's the only wrestler on the roster who I don't find legit."

[6.0] "HOOK is still trying to fully find himself in AEW, the talent is clearly there - we've seen glimmers of greatness from Hook, and he's only 26, so I have zero doubt we will get there someday. But for now, he's a passable wrestler who is just three years into his career and finds himself in a constant identity crisis as a result, let's see where his return gimmick goes."

[7.0] "i genuinely love that dude and i'm so eager to see what he can become because he's got undeniable potential but they need to find what to do with him.. this gimmick of his being a cold badass that doesn't give a f*ck feels natural, he's pretty good in-ring knowing he's got only 3 years of in-ring experience, he needs to start building solid storylines and feuds with other guys so it can be remembered and so that he can be pushed even more .. i hope that they don't waste him because he's gold and i'll definitely come back to raise the rating"

[2.0] "Hook is one of the biggest failed experiments AEW has ever done. The guy just can't wrestle and he has the charisma of a wet rag. He looks like a geek too. Only does 1 good move and that's it. Please stop trying to make this guy a thing, he is just not good. Admit defeat, it'll help the product a ton. He peaks in hardcore situations, just have him do that or something since you can't really fire him."

[10.0] "Hook is both a highly skilled suplex machine and a more than capable heir to the throne once held by his father, Taz. Hook's in ring style is wildly entertaining and his diverse collection of suplexes make watching him wrestle different and fun every match. Hook graps make me feel some type of way that no wrestler past present and future will ever be able to replicate. Hook is the future of wrestling and could single handedly take AEW to the promise land."

[1.0] "Well the FTW title is played out, but how is this guy still in AEW. he has no character, no skill, I can't believe this guy can stay in AEW. you can say he's still young, but honestly I don't see the fundamentals of his game, just a couple of boring prop matches with Chris Jericho. All he has is his face, and a few girl fans like him as a trophy. Even Dominik is more talented than him.This guy is Tony Khan's biggest mistake."

[4.0] "I've soured on HOOK over the last year or so. His size and experience level was problematic from the start as he was being booked like some kind of unstoppable badass without the physical or historical credibility to back that kind of booking. He feels like the epitome of a nepo baby, and his absurdly protected booking has also limited him telling any sort of layered story. He still can't cut a promo, and Taz on commentary constantly force feeding the viewer about how tough and badass his boy is gets pretty grating."

[2.0] "Leaving aside the fact that he's the son of ... let's be serious: what has Hook actually shown so far? The music hits, and this scrawny-looking wrestler walks out like some kind of badass -- I have no idea why or who he's supposed to intimidate. He gets in the ring with this cocky attitude and... I don't get it. Why? What's the point? And honestly, the booking makes it even worse. Apparently, he has to win every match no matter what, which means you can't build anything around him, because every feud is basically decided from the start -- Hook has to win, despite having no real status. It makes no sense. Not to mention they created a title specifically for him -- an unofficial, unrecognized title that he defended -- and it ended up being completely useless. I'm sorry, but I don't see a future for him unless something changes."

[4.0] "Just fundamentally lacks credibility. Has the play pretend moveset of a 260 pounder but looks like a 12 stone jabroni and is seemingly incapable of leaving his feet. His old man was a killer in the ring no doubt, this one can attribute much to good old fashioned nepotism. Has been hugely overpushed for what he is and just don't see much there. Also drags Joe down multiple levels when they're together."

[6.0] "Hook is an interesting case. He originally just showed up as a hanger on to a group - not really adding much & no one really knew what his point was or what to expect. But he finally did something & when he did, we saw that there was actually something there. A guy who had a pretty cool arsenal of judo throws & someone who had a pretty unique, badass appeal, allthewhile kind of having a zoomer approach to his character. I was very into him at this point. But over time, his character has suffered. Part due to poor booking, but another part due to lack of character depth beyond the initial character development phase. He's recently been in a pointless mish-mash group, which has done him no favors. He has potential if he can find some intriguing booking to latch on to."

[3.0] "I waited until after All In London on August 25, 2024 to submit a comment because I wanted to give Hook the opportunity to showcase his skills in his match with Jericho on this major PPV. What did I see. Besides having a few more tattoos, it was the same old stuff, nothing improved. Hook gets a beat down, throws some strikes, gives a few suplexes, applies his Redrum submission and Jericho taps. Overall, Hook appeared awkward and unsure of his next moves. At the end, Tazz was at ring side consoling his son with a hug. The bad ass kid needed a hug from daddy. It's painfully obvious the powers that be are trying their best to give him a push, but his skill set is so limited he gives them little to work with. The combination of limited skills with his lack of speaking ability suggests he should not have been on a major PPV, but rather he should have been getting further training. He's was there for only one reason - nepotism and that's not a good reason. And about 8 months after his All In appearance, it's still the same old stuff but now the bad ass kid vomits in the ring during a match with the Death Riders. While I hope it's nothing serious and wish him a speedy recovery, this incident should be used as a wake up call. Hook needs further training."

[3.0] "His mic skill need to be polished. And while his character was very young and fresh at the beginning, it didn't develop that much. The fact that his matches are so boring and repetitive doesn't help, I feel like they tried to rush him into an important role into AEW but he was far from ready"

[5.0] "A naturally gifted performer who has an extremely endearing aura and an exciting moveset, but ask him to work a ten-minute, dare I even say, a 15-minute 1-on-1 contest, and the holes in Hook's current abilities are obvious. Super raw talent who needs to spend some time in Ring of Honor or even just spend a few months working up to lengthier matches on Collision until reinserting this dude anywhere near the world title. If they want to get away with him not cutting promos, at least set him up with a mouthpiece!"

[6.0] "Hook's cool. He certainly has a nice style to watch, and his matches are about as binge-able as Kelly Kelly's (which is a compliment coming from me). All I can say about Hook is that he needs more experience, because he gets heavily carried and his matches can be repetitive (but that has more to do with the booking)."

[3.0] "After numerous feuds and ton of tv time he got, this guy has been found out as a mediocre wrestler and a really underwhelming ''prospect'' as an overall performer. His ceiling is very obvious which isn't that high. Bland in the ring and his promos and nonexistent character work is terrible. Go back to the square one and put him in the lower card and see if something clicks (I doubt it) because the forced shit they've been doing with him, trying to make him a credible threat is not working."

[5.0] "Hook has plenty of potential, but his output as a wrestler goes up and down. He has a lot of room to improve but definitely has charisma and a decent look, but leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to the connective tissue of wrestling, and all the stuff that happens between moves. He isn't a very good promo, whether they're short or long, and often gets overshadowed by other wrestlers when in the ring with guys who are much smoother than him. It just always feels like he's lost in the shuffle between being a shooter style wrestler and being a super typical american wrestler. He has some stuff to figure out and I think he'd do better to broaden his moveset to be more inclusive of the japanese strong style with the judo influences added in as finishing sequences. Think he probably could do for a trip on an excursion too"

[5.0] "The wheels have very much come off. I am not entirely sure why he is getting so much TV time on the main shows. A guy who would hugely benefit from a few years on ROH and being told to go work as many independent shows as possible."

[4.0] ".Limited but has some tools, just needs more ring time or a reinvention of some sort. I do think he has a coolness to him though with his theme look and such, and he's only 2 years into his career so there's no need for me to be overly harsh. really."

[2.0] "Watch any of his last ten matches and tell me this guy is anything about a mediocre, undertrained and uninteresting talent totally incapable of putting on a good program. One of the biggest failures of AEW canon, had a hot 2021 only because he was being put in job matches where he decimated his opponents with the same three maneuvres. He has about as much depth as Goldberg, without the aura or popularity. The worst combination. Makes my ears bleed whenever he is put on interviews -- a serial mumbling stutterer. Just trash, and it's not 100% his fault. Put in a spot before he could handle it or grasp what being a television wrestler entails (hence the 2/10 rather than 1)."

[5.0] "He has been doing the same thing since 2021, he does not do good promos and he is still with the ftw championship and beating jobbers in 2 minutes, he has remained stagnant and it is not only Aew's fault but also his because it seems that he does not want to evolve, he has a great potential but still stagnant."

[4.0] "His character isn't really interesting to me and it's carried up by other stablemates like Joe. Ring skill seems to be better than before but still he isn't above average in terms of in-ring skills. There is a big problem that he tends to be wasted in too long feuds like one with Jericho."

[6.0] "He's got a great vibe, but he's been tied to the FTW belt for way too long - in the near-year I've been watching, he doesn't feel like he's changed at all."

[7.0] "Really good technical wrestler, I hope AEW gets out of the habit of putting him over via squash matches and letting him actually wrestle. He's really good in-ring and I like his current position of being in this trio with Shibata and Joe."

[9.0] "I always enjoy seeing Hook in the ring. He's another very agile, very nimble wrestler - and he's also really good at technical style wrestling. His Redrum submission finisher itself is a thing of beauty. He isn't as confident as he should be in promos, and that is the only reason he doesn't get a 10 out of 10 from me."

[5.0] "This guy has all the potential in the world but at the rate that he's going it's all being squandered, I am guessing the big idea of having him feud with jericho is so that he could hide most of his flaws and accentuate his strengths which ironically is the opposite of what has happened since the feud began and it also doesn't help in the slightest bit that Chris jericho can barely move in the ring. It's already been two whole years that this guy has been wrestling and yet hasn't shown much improvement he still can't cut a promo to save his life his moveset hasn't improved it's still just suplexes galore and not much else and he probably has the most unbelievable finisher in wrestling and it also isn't helping that most of his matches have been against significantly larger opponents like are you seriously telling me that neither samoa Joe or Brian cage could muscle their way out of his red rum? Or that they can't just scramble to the ropes while piggybacking him? The way I see things the best thing this guy could for his career is that when his Aew contract expires he should either go to nxt or maybe if he doesn't want to join the wwe he should go on an excursion to either new japan or cmll to get some experience rather than feuding with Jericho over the FTW belt."

[0.0] "Needs ALOT more training! No selling/not caring is not a gimmick, he tries to copy what his dad did, yet they are not at all the same. Hook shows 0 intensity and 0 charisma. Someone more deserving (Bryan Keith or Josh Woods) should be getting the TV time he has been getting. And if you believe that this man is 6' and 200 pounds you're more delusional than Tony Khan for investing a cent into him."

[2.0] "Hook really needs to build on his character development and storytelling as whenever he's in the squared circle, he's extremely boring with absolutely no charisma and positivity about him. At the moment I don't see him having a promising career in Pro Wrestling unless he gets proper training in his promos and overall wrestling as his capabilities are weak. I don't know why fans cheer for him or say positive things about the Cold Handsome Devil as I don't see any potential within this kid what so ever."

[5.0] "At a good position for his age and years of in ring experience, but definitely still green. Over the next year or so he will need to start developing his character. Could benefit from transitioning to ROH for awhile and finding a proper feud with one of the younger guys also training there."

[7.0] "AEW needs to get him in some improv classes but besides his mic work, great presence and talent in the ring. Very promising career ahead of him."

[3.0] "It's truly beyond me how most people here can give him a high rating. The kid clearly needs a lot of training, I'm not even trying to hate because I think he has a lot of potential, but there's no chance in hell he's anything other than a 3. Can do a very simple suplex, great, but he still moves and wrestles like it's his first time. The kid is green as grass and really needs to be taken off TV and sent away to train, would do him wonders to actually learn how to properly wrestle. Aside from that though, yeah he has a good look and a certain charisma which is very rare for folks as young as him to have."

"Hook is one of the most promising up-and-coming stars AEW has to offer. Fluid in the ring with an impressive amount of suplexes and submissions, he is very reminiscent of his father Taz in the best way."