While growing up, HOOK never thought he would follow in the footsteps of his father to become a professional wrestler.
FTW Champion HOOK and his father Taz recently sat down with Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When HOOK was asked about following in his father’s footsteps, he revealed that growing up; his dad told him to be anything but a professional wrestler.
“When I was younger, my dad told me to be anything but a pro wrestler,” HOOK said. “As I got older, things changed, and the business today is not the same business that he broke into.”
Taz said as his son got older, he realized that he was old enough to make his own decisions and realized after seeing him workout in the ring that he had the opportunity to be something unique.
“If he’s old enough to go to a bar and get a shot of whiskey, he’s old enough to make his own decisions, right?” Taz said. “That’s how I was raised. I realized [our] third session, he’s something pretty unique here. And that was it.”
HOOK’s rise in All Elite Wrestling has been handled with great care, and it’s part of what makes his character so unique to begin with. Taz says by not seeing him every week and being overly active on social media, it helps keep him special.
“He’s gonna be handled different,” Taz said. “He’s unique. I can’t tell you what it is about him that’s unique, but I could tell you keeping him special means you’re not gonna see him every single week on TV. You’re not gonna see him where he’s constantly on social media or doing stuff like that. Good luck. I can’t even get the guy to return a text message.”
On the July 27 episode of AEW Dynamite, HOOK defeated Ricky Starks to become the FTW Champion. It was something he never imagined would be possible growing up and seeing that title on the mantle in his living room.
“I grew up in my house, that belt was in my living room,” HOOK said. “I was a little kid. I would play with it every so often. I never imagined at that point that one day I would be FTW champion.”
READ MORE: HOOK’s Diet Involves More Than Just Eating Chips
What do you make of HOOK and Taz’s comments? Have you enjoyed watching the son of The Human Suplex Machine rise through the ranks of All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
