It’s no secret at this point that “Powerhouse” Hobbs is departing All Elite Wrestling and likely heading toward WWE. Hobbs’ contract reportedly expired Wednesday night at midnight, with his final AEW appearance being on this weekend’s Collision where he defended his trios championship alongside the Opps against Hangman Page and JetSpeed.
His departure comes after reported months-long negotiations and contract offers from AEW to stay, also reportedly including a raise over his expiring deal. Those same reports indicate that Hobbs was not budging and that he was going to leave the company once his deal expired. We presume he leaves on good terms, because honestly if you’ve heard him speak in interviews at any point in the last several years, Will Hobbs is nothing if not a paragon of respectfulness. Should he choose to return to AEW down the road, that door is likely open.
When discussing Hobbs and his departure from AEW, we need to discuss the realities of his AEW run. First and foremost, when he debuted during the pandemic era he was in his late 20s, and unless he debuts in the next six days he will be 35 years old by the time he steps foot in a WWE ring. Generally wrestlers are better athletes than they were in the 1980s-90s, take better care of themselves, and 35 in the present day is hardly the “back end of their career” stigma it used to be in wrestling and still is in pro sports. He could very well still wrestle another 10-15 years should he choose.
However, 35 years old is still 35 years old, and that means he has more time behind him than in front of him. Hobbs is no rookie and his life in wrestling didn’t begin on Dynamite or YouTube. He worked the Bay Area indies straight out of high school, debuting in 2009 and continued there until 2020 when he signed with AEW. He even had a one-off appearance in WWE in 2016. This is all to say that in terms of the physicality and toll on someone’s body, he’s an absolute veteran from head to toe.
Hobbs is seemingly a good, respectful, grounded person, raised by his grandparents, adored his grandmother, had dreams of being a wrestler-manager duo with his brother before he was killed in a shooting, and he is raising three kids — two boys and a daughter. He’s pretty much the archetype of someone you’d like to see succeed. I have never met him, but he strikes me as the kind of person who understands the temporality of life and the imperative of taking care of what’s important.
Hobbs is a hard worker and did everything he was likely asked to do in AEW. It’s likely a huge reason behind his 42-day reign as TNT champion, as well as all of the world title opportunities he received opposite Jon Moxley. It’s also clear however that Tony Khan had him pigeonholed in his depth chart within his roster as a featured person, but that he would never excel past being a “stable” guy. The truth is in the history, and when he wasn’t on his own, he was attached to Team Taz, the Don Callis family and now the Opps as he departs the company.
I think if any one of us was Hobbs, if you look at the breadth of his six year run in AEW, you would not exactly be positive that much was going to change should he re-sign with Tony Khan. He also doesn’t strike me as someone who would make a litany of demands, and instead would merely want the chance to prove himself. And understanding the totality of his run, I would not be confident that was going to change, and would rather bet on myself and try to surpass those preconceptions elsewhere — almost inarguably — on the biggest stage.
Opportunity to prove one’s self, and to not undervalue your worth. Setting a positive example for his children, while also providing for them in a substantial way. He cannot be faulted for that. That could have happened in AEW, but it didn’t, and that will be Khan’s cross to bear should Hobbs’ bet prove to be the correct move.
Missed opportunities: undervalued in AEW
I’m careful not to use the phrasing underutilized, because he was certainly allowed to be on TV far more consistently than a litany of roster members who never got near a television camera.
He has been consistently featured on AEW television, and as mentioned he held both the AEW trios and TNT championships. You can split hairs in terms of whether you feel it’s better to be undervalued or underutilized, and perhaps you can argue there’s some overlap. In my mind Hobbs was a consistent presence on AEW television, and clearly had his supporters on the roster. He doesn’t work two (AEW and IWGP) world title matches against Moxley if that weren’t the case.
However, that doesn’t mean that necessarily translates into Tony Khan’s perception of a given person. Although it’s clear Hobbs was liked, and he was wanted in AEW, that never turned into consistent opportunities on-screen in the form of a second TNT title reign that I would argue was beyond deserved. It feels like a matter of regardless of how physically imposing he was, how hard he worked, those consistent title runs never materialized because he either didn’t serve the story, or he wasn’t viewed as an archetypal wrestler in terms of what Khan values in a wrestler. It would be disingenuous to say opportunities never came because he didn’t work hard.
Over the years he was consistent no matter what he was given, and as he got more comfortable I came to really enjoy the intensity of his promos. He has an authentic believability in his voice and he demands your attention when he speaks. Whether he spoke of the Book of Hobbs or stopped short of saying he was going to maim Hangman Page and make him regret living, I believed him. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.
That dedication to improvement makes his 2023 TNT title run a little more difficult to digest when it was followed by a third attempt to prop up Wardlow, an assembly line’s worth of Christian Cage/Adam Copeland reigns, and then in succession reigns by Jack Perry, Daniel Garcia, Adam Cole, Dustin Rhodes, Kyle Fletcher and now Mark Briscoe.
I don’t disagree with the Garcia and Fletcher reigns in principle because they are potential future fixtures of the company, but the Copeland/Cage reigns only served their story and did nothing for the title, Perry had a lengthy run that only amounted to him dropping it to Garcia, who in turn dropped it to Cole who only held it for 97 days prior to his injury. Rhodes’ win was a nice moment, and then I would argue Fletcher’s run closed out too soon. Finally, I like Mark Briscoe, but other than putting on some good, physical matches what’s his purpose as champion?
Through all of those, you can’t say Hobbs wouldn’t have excelled as a staple in the TNT title scene the last three years (he’d be like Miro, but if Miro worked and was willing to lose) because it feels like it lacks an identity amidst the other AEW championships. There’s no defining characteristic of its matches, and if the wrestler doesn’t make the belt important or stand-out, then the value suffers. I think the closest we’ve come recently to that was Garcia and Fletcher, and even that’s arguable.
There’s no guarantee that would have definitely been any different with Hobbs in the mix, but the lack of tangible opportunity probably contributed to his departure. For example, Hobbs only received 7 unique title chances in the last six years, with two conversions into title reigns. The lengthiest was his trios reign with the Opps. That’s it. And in my view, as someone who is also a workrate, in-ring content first fan, it’s hard to deny the value Hobbs brings and the boxes he checks off.
While it may very well be a matter of he’s a better fit in WWE, and conversely the same can be true of the opposite for someone in WWE, his willingness to openly leave even on good terms speaks volumes of how he views himself and his value against his track record in AEW. But for me, if the expected occurs and he excels in WWE, it will highlight how wrong Khan was in how he booked Hobbs for the last six years.
What he brings to the table in WWE
Will Hobbs fits the mold of the classic WWE performer. He may not be 6-and-a-half feet tall, but he’s a big boy nonetheless at 6’1″ and 266 pounds. He’s more than capable of thriving in an environment favouring physical feats of strength over the prevailing style of AEW.
What’s going to set him a part though as a big man in his new presumed environment is his underrated character work, which he scarcely only was able to show flashes of in AEW. Truly he only maybe put that forward when he turned on Ricky Starks, when the Book of Hobbs was just getting off the ground, and throughout his trios title run with the various Opps combinations. He’s a very strong promo for someone who didn’t get nearly enough time to showcase that skillset.
Most of us are familiar with him, but to highlight what he brings to WWE for the unfamiliar, his powerhouse style that coined his nickname is not going to awe-inspire, but it’s emphatic, efficient and precise and it’s felt as the sounds of his work carry across arenas. Couple that with an inherent believability, confidence and charisma that comes with having survived the worst life can throw your way, and you have the makings of someone who can make an impact.
He deserves that chance, and it’s clear he believes he’s due that chance to either succeed or fail on his own merits, as opposed to be being held back by the perception of someone else. That phenomenon is not new and it’s as true in WWE as it is in AEW, and Hobbs being able to make this move is a byproduct of this era where wrestlers have a real choice of where they want to work.
Situations like these are where you need to value having an AEW because a) the company gave him the initial platform, b) it exists to split the market’s roster to avoid monopoly and give wrestlers fair pay, and c) if a wrestler is not valued in one place, they can “move territories.”
Hobbs’ future
His trajectory is mostly up to him, but he’s still going to be subject to WWE booking and whether or not that can be consistent and valuable to him will determine the value of his move.
The nature of Hobbs’ debut is going to matter, and straight away I don’t want to see him simply paired with his old Team Taz running mate in the rechristened Ricky Saints. Nor do I think he would necessarily agree to that off the bat as much he could affect that. I also don’t see the value from his perspective in going from one environment where he was kept in the background to another.
The road ahead for Hobbs — similar to Ethan Page and Jade Cargill — coming into WWE from AEW with nor prior “fed” experience or cache of work will depend on how he reacts to the environment. What comes out of this is anyone’s guess because there’s no set path for anyone. But ultimately no matter what he’s given in WWE, if that’s truly his destination, what his ceiling is lays in his power and whether he proves his value amidst the booking regardless of where he starts on the card.
Hobbs has demonstrated he’s capable of more than a short mid-card title reign or a trios reign where he wasn’t the focal point. He may never reach world title status, but there’s infinitely more value and inspiration in aiming high and falling short than settling for the known and familiar in AEW. Hobbs needs to try, and we need to respect him for being willing to take that chance in order to write a new chapter in the Book of Hobbs.
