Bully Ray Takes Issue With This AEW Star 'Squashing' Opponents: 'I Don't Think It's Believable'

After losing his FTW Championship at AEW Dynasty, HOOK officially made his in-ring return on last week's episode of "AEW Dynamite" in Everett, Washington. HOOK's opponent for this "Dynamite" match was former DEFY Tag Team Champion Sebastian Wolfe, who hails from just north of the border in British Columbia, Canada. On a recent episode of "Busted Open After Dark," WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray laid out his analysis of this bout, which spanned a mere 28 seconds.

"HOOK squashes the local [talent] quickly. I don't believe HOOK should be squashing anybody," Ray said of the six-foot, 201-pound AEW star. "I don't think it's believable. Maybe you can remind me of when guys that were smaller in stature squashed anybody. I understand that maybe his dad Taz had some squash matches back in ECW, but Taz acted and was a legit killer in that ring. It feels very forced." 

"I'm almost wondering if this is the reason why they kept HOOK so quiet for so long, because when HOOK talks now, I just don't believe anymore," Ray continued. "And the forced mean face isn't working for me. They got to be really careful with HOOK. [Chris] Jericho needs to be really careful with HOOK, with what they're doing right now, because things could go wrong quickly. I hope they don't."

Following his victory over Wolfe, HOOK defeated Johnny TV on "AEW Collision," subsequently earning a spot in a three-way number one contenders match on tomorrow's episode of "Dynamite." The winner of this three-way will then move on to challenge Chris Jericho for the FTW Championship. HOOK's competitors in this number one contenders contest are Katsuyori Shibata and Bryan Keith.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open After Dark" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.