Powerhouse Hobbs has officially signed to WWE, Fightful Select reports. In January 20th, WWE filed to trademark the name “Royce Keys,” but only time will tell if that’s Hobbs’ new ring name or not.
The former AEW star has only been wrestling for a few years but his stock has risen immensely in the last year. He was part of The Opps stable with HOOK, Katsuyori Shibata and Samoa Joe.
For fans that may not be familiar with Hobbs, we’ve collected some of the biggest moments in his career so you can get a feel before he makes his grand debut.
The rise of Powerhouse Hobbs
Hobbs was one part of Team Taz (RIP) but despite being a big, menacing presence, there was little that felt threatening. To me that all changed during a match with Keith Lee on AEW Rampage. At the time, it was rare to see such a matchup. Typically, fans can expected more fast-paced Lucha-style wrestling. Even in defeat Hobbs look phenomenal here, and I wish it would’ve led to a bigger push.
His TNT Title win
AEW was struggling to find a place for Hobbs when he finally challenged for the TNT Championship. This was around the time he was doing his Book of Hobbs storyline which I throughly enjoyed because it gave us some great match ups. Unfortunately for Wardlow, this match was the beginning of his descent. While I would’ve loved to see Hobbs win the AEW World Championship some day, he’s left his mark on the division as a TNT Champion and a World Trios Champion.
Big Meaty Men Slapping Meat!
If you’re an AEW fan (or if you have access to the internet) you’re probably familiar with this phrase. At AEW All Out, Hobbs and Miro fought each other in a singles match that fans loved. I was in attendance for the show and it was like nothing else I’ve ever seen. Fans cheered and trolled the men in the match with various “meat” chants. While some feel it took away from the quality of the match as a whole, it’s still widely talked about. I’m not sure that would be the case otherwise.
Lights Out for powerhouse Hobbs
After Hobbs turned on his stablemate Ricky Starks, Ricky came back for vengeance. This eventually led to their Lights Out match which just proved why Starks should’ve been well on his way to holding the AEW World Championship and Hobbs being a future World Champion. It’s certainly a rivalry we could see reheated in WWE with both Starks and Hobbs now signed to the company.
The post 4 Powerhouse Hobbs Moments in AEW To Watch Before His WWE Debut appeared first on VICE.
