"The next evolution of pro wrestling" - Former WWE Champion thinks AEW's HOOK is one of the best

Despite featuring several former WWE Superstars, AEW has always prided itself on building homegrown talent. One of the company's most popular young stars is HOOK, who former WWE Champion Raj Dhesi (fka Jinder Mahal) considers one of the best in the business.

HOOK is the son of wrestling legend Taz. The 25-year-old was already an accomplished athlete when he joined AEW in 2020, but fans have been able to watch his evolution as a pro wrestler and character in real time.

All Elite President Tony Khan stirred up controversy early this year when he criticized WWE's booking of Jinder Mahal, comparing the latter's World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins to HOOK's challenge against then-AEW World Champion Samoa Joe.

Raj Dhesi was released from WWE in April of this year, and he's currently touring the independent circuit. In a recent appearance for K&S Wrestlefest, the former Jinder Mahal discussed the controversial incident from January and heaped praise on HOOK:

"Tony [Khan] just said, 'Where’s the backlash when Jinder’s getting a championship match? When HOOK is 28-0 or 28-1 or something.' That was the thing, and I just said, 'Who the — is HOOK?' That was it… Yeah, I’m a former WWE Champion [so I should be able to get a title shot]. But then I actually started watching HOOK, and I really like his style. I like his demeanor, his style, everything about him. He’s like the next generation, right? The next generation, the next evolution of pro wrestling. HOOK is one of the best… We’re just having fun on Twitter. It’s just wrestling." [H/T POST Wrestling]

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Raj Dhesi thanks AEW President Tony Khan for his controversial comments

While many fans perceived Tony Khan's social media posts as criticism toward Jinder Mahal, the AEW President was actually responding to backlash over HOOK's World Championship opportunity.

The All Elite Chief defended his decision to give The Cold-hearted Handsome Devil a title shot by citing his record, which at that point was very impressive. He then pointed out that Jinder Mahal, who was receiving a title shot against Seth Rollins at that time, hadn't won a singles match in more than a year.

Raj Dhesi didn't let the controversy get to him, however. In fact, he ended up thanking Tony Khan in an interview with Chris Van Vliet. The former WWE Champion noted that Khan's controversial statements generated more interest for his match against Rollins:

"I was at home. I think it was early in the day. I think I had just done cardio and Drew [McIntyre] had texted me, and I got like a bunch of texts in a row and I was like I got to see this and I opened up Twitter and that's when I saw. Thank you, Tony, you made that match with Seth more interesting. More people watched it. People actually thought I was gonna win it just to spite Tony. I was surprised everybody stuck up for me. That's never happened before."

There's been speculation that Raj Dhesi could wind up in AEW, despite the social media controversy from January still being fresh in the minds of many fans. Whether the former Modern Day Maharaja makes his way to the Jacksonville-based promotion remains to be seen.