Ever since he made himself known in the Casino Battle Royal at All Out 2020, Will Hobbs has become a star in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). At first it looked like he was an ally of Jon Moxley & Darby Allin, before joining Team Taz and becoming “Powerhouse Hobbs”.
Hobbs has star written all over him, being a classic heavyweight wrestler, but not lacking in agility. However, you might be surprised to learn that WWE actually passed on Hobbs a few years back. They suddenly regained interest after he became a key player on AEW TV.
Will Hobbs Didn’t Have Time For WWE’s Nonsense
While speaking on the AEW Unrestricted Podcast with Aubrey Edwards & Tony Schiavone, Hobbs would speak about his WWE tryout. He was on the radar of WWE for a few years, worked a dark match with Baron Corbin, and got a tryout.
‘The WWE tryout was good. They said ‘we don’t have anything for you right now.’ Years later, the carrot dangled in front of me and I pretty much told them, ‘F you.’ Right when I appeared on AEW, you wanna be like, ‘Hey, remember me?’ The way I was raised, I don’t have time for that shit. I’m not ‘boo boo the fool’ as my Grandma would say. ‘Hey, we’ve been thinking about you and are interested in you.’ No, f*ck you. I ain’t no sucka. I’d rather you tell me 100% no than try to BS me.’
So they had no plans for Hobbs, until their biggest competition had him under contract. Haven’t we heard this story before?
A Familiar Story From Other AEW Talents
Hobbs is hardly the first man WWE changed their minds about once AEW had them. We’ve heard this same story from Eddie Kingston, Ricky Starks, Santana & Ortiz. Kingston got a call after he had his TNT Championship match with Rhodes, with an offer to become a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. Santana & Ortiz were offered crazy money after it was heard they were going to AEW, but WWE didn’t have a plan for them beyond sending them to NXT.
This is simply becoming common behavior for WWE, as they will always covet what they can’t actually have. Just look at EC3 for a perfect example of this. WWE lost him when he was Derrick Bateman. He reinvents himself with the EC3 character, and they want him back… only to barely use him and lose him once again.
Do you think Will Hobbs would have done well in WWE? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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