Tony Khan Hypes Hook's AEW In-Ring Debut
Tony Khan was a guest on Busted Open Radio this week where he discussed tonight's AEW Rampage. The AEW President focused on Hook's debut, and talked about how proud Taz is of his son.
"It's going to be great. I am so, so excited about it," Khan said about Hook's debut. "Mark (Henry) is part of the Rampage team and Mark and I sit in the Rampage production meeting and I'm up there going through my notes. Taking everybody through the matchups and notes for the announcers and notes for the production team. Mark's part of that team and also on the Rampage team is Taz.
"As we've been building up to this Hook match, Mark can tell you, Taz is such a proud father and to be able to call his son's first-ever pro wrestling match, live on television. I'm really excited for that," he said. "Everybody here's got a family, fathers, and sons and I just think, Taz is so proud of his kid. Taz may be a 'bad guy,' Taz may be a great heel in the world of wrestling. But he's also, I think a great dad. I'm excited for him."
Tony Khan then spoke about Hook in further detail. He revealed that Hook was a great lacrosse prospect, but he gave it up to focus on wrestling. Khan then continued as he explained why he as waited until now to debut him inside of the ring.
"Hook is an elite athlete. He was a top, top college lacross prospect and at a young age, he decided to really focus all of his attention on pro wrestling. He's become a consummate student of pro wrestling, he's got one of the best teachers you could ever hope to have with Taz. It's really important we haven't rushed him," Khan said. "You know, there's been plenty of times where I thought Hook, in his training and in his practice looked fantastic. He's got every bit of the skill for what it would take to wrestle on Dynamite or Rampage.
"But the reason I held off until tonight, for Rampage, on Long Island. I really felt like, to give Hook his chance to debut tonight, in front of the big audience," Khan revealed. "Give him the chance to debut in his hometown. I think people are going to see the way the crowd reacts to Hook tonight and all the fans watching at home, when Rampage and Dynamite come to their city, they're going to see how fans have reacted to Hook. That's how they're conditioned to see him, as a star. So, I really wanted to give him a great debut. I think Hook is a great, great prospect and I'm really excited about his debut tonight."
Tony Khan also spoke about the ratings that Rampage has been bringing in on a weekly basis. He revealed that TNT have been pleased with the numbers that they have managed to pull.
"Also, TNT is so happy with the numbers that we pull, Friday late nights," Khan claimed. "You know, there aren't a lot of other shows, in fact, there are almost none. Besides AEW and sports like the NBA or pro college football that can draw the kind of numbers that we have been able to pull in the time slot. Tonight will be no exception."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.