Will Hobbs, who is referred to as one of the most powerful wrestlers in All Elite Wrestling, recently appeared as a guest on AEW’s Unrestricted podcast with host Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards to talk about working at All Out in the Battle Royal, if his ring name came from The Fast and Furious movies, training with WWE Hall of Famer Booker T and working as an extra on SmackDown Live with Baron Corbin, but eventually turning the WWE down.
Below are the highlights:
On working at All Out in the Battle Royal:
“That whole day was emotional for me. I’ll give you guys a quick little story. My older brother and I were supposed to get into the business together. He was supposed to be my manager. He ended up passing away on September 5th and that’s the day we had the PPV. I was motivated more than anything else.
I ran to Tony (Khan) the night before and he said, “I got something good for you.” I said, ok. I was in the Battle Royal for a long time. The elimination had certain spots thrown at me. It was all good. That moment there, I knew, ok, I made the right decision. I’m supposed to be here. I saw everything lined up.”
On if his ring name came from The Fast and Furious movies:
“My actual last name isn’t Hobbs. It’s close to that. I’m a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise. I do like the name Powerhouse Hobbs now. T.K. (Tony Khan) said you’re a powerhouse.”
On training with WWE Hall of Famer Booker T:
“That was awesome. I hit him up. Me and my old tag partner went out there and did some things and picked up a lot of knowledge so that was pretty cool.”
On working as an extra on SmackDown Live with Baron Corbin, but eventually turning the WWE down:
“That was with Baron Corbin. That was in San Jose which is about 30 minutes from where I am. I did that whole thing. I had a tryout. The tryout was good. That’s a long story but I’ll give you the short story. They said we didn’t have anything for you right now. Years later getting the carrot dangling in front of me, I pretty much told them F you.”
