AEW star Powerhouse Hobbs recently appeared on Insight With Chris Van Vilet to hype this Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view, where the Team Taz member will compete in the Face of the Revolution Ladder match to determine the next challenger for the TNT championship. Highlights from the interview are below.
How much more confident he is since his wrestling debut 12 years ago:
“Confidence. Having the right people around to teach me. Knowing what I can do and can’t do. Knowing how to work a crowd, have fun and be myself. When I smile and give that snarl, that’s me, I’ve been doing that since football. I have been doing that to keep the bullies away, because they thought that I was crazy.”
How he got on AEW’s radar:
“I know a phone call got called in, and next thing I know I got a text from QT Marshall. I looked at it and I’m like this is bullsh*t, but I sat on it for a little bit and I responded. It was one of those things where I’m like do I risk flying to Jacksonville and possibly get COVID? Or do I say ‘Thank you, when things open back up…’ But I’m like I am a fool if I say no to this. I remember QT asking me if I was local to Jacksonville? I said no but I will find a way to get there. When I got there I was amazed at Daily’s Place. Everyone was friendly to me. I looked on the board and I got a match with Orange Cassidy. I’m like cool, I’ve been following the program and he has a feud with Chris Jericho. Then 12.36 seconds later I lost to Orange Cassidy, but I couldn’t care less if I won or lost, my main thing was how can I help out this show? I knew the pay-per-view was coming up with him and Jericho, and I knew it was going on the highlight reel because of my size and his size, and it was.”
His breakout moment in AEW:
“I think it was the battle royal and that match on Saturday Night Dynamite with Darby [Allin] before the pay-per-view. I think local people in California knew who I was, but Florida, like people who have seen AEW Dark know who Will Hobbs was. That battle royal was crazy, because it was the anniversary of my brother’s death. I was in this battle royal and one of the last six. When I had this moment with Matt Sydal and that spinebuster and I had that moment with Archer, I’m like I should be here. It all took off after that.”