"He needs to come home," "One last run" - Fans react after Michael Cole surprisingly namedrops AEW star on SmackDown

WWE commentator Michael Cole surprisingly mentioned a prominent AEW official on this week's episode of SmackDown. The star in question, Taz, used to work with the legendary announcer many years ago.

The June 27 edition of Friday Night SmackDown aired from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and featured a singles match between Jimmy Uso and the recently arrived JC Mateo, formerly known as Jeff Cobb. The match lasted about six minutes, with the new Bloodline member securing the win.

At one point during the match, veteran WWE announcer Michael Cole seemingly drew a comparison between Mateo and ECW and WWE veteran Taz, with whom he used to share the commentary desk. The Human Suplex Machine is currently signed with AEW, where he provides commentary every week on Dynamite and on the company's PPVs.

Fans quickly rushed to X/Twitter to share their reactions to Cole paying tribute to his former colleague. Several users praised the 58-year-old for the gesture, reminiscing about his performance alongside Taz as a commentary duo on SmackDown.

Some even argued that the former ECW Champion should return to WWE, with one user suggesting that his son, AEW up-and-comer Hook, should join him.

Taz officially signed with All Elite Wrestling in January 2020 to become a member of the company's broadcast team.

AEW legend's son's major non-wrestling accomplishment

All Elite announcer Taz's son, Hook, has been out of action since this past April. He was replaced in The Opps by Powerhouse Hobbs, who took the former FTW Champion's spot alongside Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata and helped them defeat the Death Riders for the AEW World Trios Championship.

After several weeks, Hook finally returned to get revenge on Claudio Castagnoli during the 2025 Anarchy in the Arena match at last month's Double or Nothing. Interestingly, the rising star refused to reunite with Joe and walked out on him after taking out Claudio.

While he has not appeared on AEW television since then, The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil starred in Money Talks, a short film that premiered recently at the Tribeca Film Festival. Hook's father, Taz, shared a post on X/Twitter about it earlier this month, writing:

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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