Eric Bischoff wants popular AEW star to join WWE as soon as possible 

Eric Bischoff has argued that a popular AEW star should consider jumping ship to WWE as soon as possible. The latter is none other than HOOK.

The Cold-Hearted Handsome Devil tried to regain the FTW Title from Chris Jericho in a three-way match also involving Katsuyori Shibata at AEW Double or Nothing 2024 this past Sunday. The Learning Tree managed to retain his title against the formidable opponents with help from Big Bill and the unexpected assist of a new ally in Bryan Keith.

Former wrestling booker and RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff shared his criticism of the recent FTW Title program and pay-per-view bout on his 83 Weeks podcast. He argued that HOOK needed to depart All Elite Wrestling to join WWE NXT, under the creative leadership of Shawn Michaels and Triple H.

He claimed that the New York native would not grow further as a performer in AEW and suggested that he could benefit from the developmental system of the Stamford-based company.

“This was horrible. Hook needs to get to NXT as fast as he can. He’s not going to learn anything where he is at. Lets face it. He’s surrounded by Hardcore Terry Funk Wanna-bees. Every match is the same."

HOOK would not be the first All Elite Wrestling talent to leave for WWE over the past couple of years, as several major names, including CM Punk, Jade Cargill, Lexis King, Shawn Spears, and more recently Ethan Page, have found their way to the sports entertainment juggernaut, whose popularity is at an all-time high under the creative leadership of Triple H.

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Vince Russo claimed that Taz wants AEW star HOOK to build his own legacy

At only 25 years of age, HOOK has emerged as one of the most popular stars of All Elite Wrestling. However, several fans and industry veterans are of the opinion that the Tony Khan-led promotion may not provide the former FTW Champion the environment to improve as a wrestler, suggesting that he should consider a run in WWE instead.

Regardless of outsider opinions, HOOK's father Taz supposedly wants his son to carve his own legacy in the sport, according to former wrestling writer Vince Russo. Speaking to Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaw podcast, Russo stated:

"It's funny, bro, the way the fathers wanna handle that. I've had conversations with Taz recently and he wants it to be like totally, totally separate. They've made that decision and it sounds like him more than his kid, like he wants his kid to get over on their own. It's just very interesting what Sting's psyche would be. It's interesting to, like how [Ric] Flair and Bill Watts looked, because that's very interesting, bro, whether they want him to follow in the footsteps or they don't even want people to know that they're related." [3:20-4:06]

It remains to be seen whether and how long HOOK continues to ply his trade in AEW.