Powerhouse Hobbs has been one of AEW’s biggest surprises in the past couple of years.
Hobbs made his AEW debut in 2020 and it didn’t take long for Tony Khan to thrust him into the upper card scene. The 34-year-old first started working a couple of AEW Dark matches then he suddenly started working for Team Taz.
Hobbs has actually been in the business for 16 years. He just didn’t get his opportunity until 2020. The AEW star made an appearance on 96.5 The Fan and he revealed that he was in a dire situation when the company contacted him. When he first got a call from QT Marshall, he thought it was a rib, but he took a chance on himself and he’s had a pretty solid career thus far:
“Frightening, because I just got laid off from my job. My daughter was, shoot, a couple months old. So it was like I couldn’t get hired anywhere. I applied at fast food spots. They were like, ‘nah.’ You know, it was bad, because I was overqualified from what I was told. But man, I got a call and QT Marshall actually texted me and I didn’t respond back for like three, four hours. So I thought somebody was ribbing me and I had a text from Cody Rhodes. Then I was just like, I gotta bet on myself at this point.
So, the story is already out there, man, it took off. I had a debut match against Orange Cassidy, then my second match was a six man against the Dark Order, and then week after week, I started showing up on Dark and Tony (Khan) gave me that okay, gave me that head nod, that opportunity, which we all want in wrestling. You want that opportunity to prove yourself, and he saw something in me and the rest is history. TNT champ, one third of the Trios ag team champions. Can’t complain, man.”
There was a point earlier this year where many were actually calling for AEW to let Hobbs beat Jon Moxley for the world title. That didn’t happen, but he’s still one of the central figures on the main roster. It wouldn’t be surprising if Hobbs was given a run with the world title someday as he has all of the tools to be a main event star. For now, he’ll have to focus on working with Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata, as The Opps are scheduled to defend their titles on tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite.