Powerhouse Hobbs Names AEW Coach Saved In His Phone As "Dad"

Powerhouse Hobbs is coming up on two years with All Elite Wrestling. The heavyweight made his initial debut on AEW Dark tapings, but quickly found himself in televised storylines with Jon Moxley, Cody Rhodes, and Team Taz.

From his first AEW matches in empty arenas to wrestling CM Punk in front of 20,000 people in New York City, a lot has changed for Hobbs since joining the white and gold promotion.

"From the very first time I debuted on AEW until now, I've completely done a 180. Everything has changed," Hobbs told Tuesday Wrestling Tuesday. "Cody Rhodes is a big influence to me. Mark Henry, that's my wrestling dad. I have him in my phone as 'Dad.' FTR, Arn Anderson, Dustin Rhodes, obviously Taz, Billy Gunn. There's so many people that influence me, daily. There's so many people I can call and get advice from. It's not just one."

Powerhouse Hobbs expanded on his relationship with Henry, noting the two have a familial dynamic that has significantly helped Hobbs improve.

"He let me know, like, 'Hey, you need to change up the way you look. Stop eating carbs after 5 o'clock,'" Hobbs said. "Since then, my body has like, switched."

Beyond personnel within AEW, Hobbs also gave props to wrestling legend 'Hacksaw' Butch Reed for having an unintentionally strong influence on his career.

"One person I do want to give a shoutout that I never actually got to meet but we had conversations is the late 'Hacksaw' Butch Reed," Hobbs said. "I found out he was a fan of myself, and that was enough inspiration right there. I've had conversations with his son. That's someone that I keep in the back of my mind. I never met, but I watched as a child. Just knowing that he was a fan of mine, that's a whole lot of inspiration. I've had hours of conversations with Tony Khan about Butch Reed and Mid-South."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Tuesday Wrestling Tuesday with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.