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Tony Khan has described how Powerhouse Hobbs and Red Velvet paved their path from AEW Dark to major flagship shows.
Hobbs was relatively unknown to mainstream audiences when he debuted on Dark in July 2020. However, he impressed Khan with his work ethic and soon became one of All Elite Wrestling's most promising heavyweights.
The big man strived hard on the independent circuit for 11 years before the Jacksonville-based promotion identified his potential. Meanwhile, Red Velvet walked in the same shoes as Hobbs. Making her AEW debut on Dark in June 2020, she worked her way up to Dynamite and Rampage.
Speaking to Wrestling Inc, Tony Khan praised Powerhouse Hobbs for proving his mettle in the business.
"Powerhouse Hobbs has worked his way up. First, he worked on Dark and then he got an opportunity on AEW Dynamite based on the hard work he did on Dark. I was looking for a good opponent for Darby Allin in the summer of 2020 and it was him. I was the coach on the match and I got to work with Hobbs firsthand. What a first-class person," said Khan. (03.16-03.35)
The AEW President also heaped praise on Red Velvet, citing her as the perfect example of seizing opportunities:
"Then you have Red Velvet who has been in some of the biggest matches. She was the main event of the first-ever AEW Rampage and an important wrestler in AEW. We really believe in her and she's only gotten better. She is a great example of somebody who came in, wasn't the spotlight person on AEW Dark but we took notice of her. Then she started to get chances on Dark, won some matches and put something together," he added. (3.36-4.15)
Tony Khan came up with the ''Powerhouse Hobbs'' name
Powerhouse Hobbs impressed Tony Khan with his performance in All Out 2020's Casino Battle Royal match. After an impressive showing, the AEW owner included him in the Team Taz faction. However, it wasn't the first time Mr. Khan noticed the California-born star.
Appearing on the Wrestling Perspective podcast, Hobbs revealed that the AEW boss coined the Powerhouse prefix for him:
"When I first came into AEW, I did enhancement work, and I was Will Power. Tony came up to me, he’s like, ‘You’re such a powerhouse, we’re gonna call you Powerhouse Hobbs. So we’ve been rolling with that ever since," said Hobbs.
(You can read more here)
Powerhouse Hobbs recently established himself as a credible heel by turning on former stablemate Ricky Starks. On the other hand, Red Velvet has been on the sidelines since suffering an injury on AEW Rampage two months ago. Fans will have to wait and see when she returns to the squared circle.
Please credit Wrestling Inc and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.
