The Real Life Friendship Between AEW's Hook & The Rapper Action Bronson, Explained
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Professional wrestling and hip-hop have had a long-standing relationship. In AEW specifically, there have been numerous artists from the genre who have made their presence felt there. At AEW Rampage Grand Slam 2022, Action Bronson made his in-ring debut teaming with Hook. The friendship between Hook and Bronson goes beyond simply wrestling one match. Bronson and Hook are both mutual fans of one another in their respective fields. Since Hook’s debut, their friendship has further evolved. This all culminated in the two being tag team partners for a match against the Jericho Appreciation Society’s Matt Menard and Angelo Parker in New York.
Hook Makes His AEW Debut To One Of Action Bronson's Songs
Hook’s first time stepping into the ring in AEW saw one of the greatest and most dominant debuts in company history. For his entrance theme, Hook chose to use the track “The Chairman’s Intent.” The song came off of Bronson’s 2017 album, Blue Chips 7000. Hook has been a fan of Bronson since he was younger. In an interview with Pitchfork, Hook said, ““I’ve been an Action Bronson fan since I was in sixth grade…I would hear him shout out all these old school wrestlers…”
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Bronson and Taz, Hook’s father and the ECW legend, became friends because of this connection. Bronson was a big fan of ECW, noting that he had seen wrestlers such as Taz, The Dudley Boyz, and Sabu compete when ECW was still an active wrestling promotion. When asked about Hook wanting to use that song for his entrance, Bronson said on The Ariel Helwani Show, “Be my guest, please.” Bronson also did not care about making money from AEW for using it either. It was all out of pure and genuine respect. In addition, Tony Khan was also supportive of the decision to use the track as he believed it fit Hook’s character, with him saying, ““I liked it; I liked the idea, and I wanted to support them.”
Hook And Action Bronson Take On The Jericho Appreciation Society
At AEW All Out, Hook defeated Parker to retain the FTW Championship, a title which his father had created while in ECW. It was revived in AEW as an unofficial title in the promotion. The two members of the JAS had been feuding with Hook, which is how the match came about. After the match, Hook was attacked by Parker and Menard. This led to Bronson coming out from the crowd to attack the two and defend Hook. Bronson challenged the two to come into the ring for a fight, but it did happen on this night. However, in due time they get their hands on the JAS.
At AEW Rampage Grand Slam 2, Bronson and Hook got their fight against the JAS. Bronson and Hook made their way to the ring, with Bronson rapping the lyrics to Hook’s theme. It was Bronson’s first time as an in-ring competitor. He also had trained with Taz and Hook in the past. The two displayed great ability with each other, tagging in and out and delivering damage to the JAS members. To win the match, Hook and Bronson both locked in the redrum hold on both Menard and Parker to win the match by submission. It was a tremendous moment as Hook and Bronson are both from New York and picked up the win there.
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Many Hip-Hop Artists Have Been Seen In AEW
Hip-hop and professional wrestling have always had a link to each other, with Bronson’s appearance in AEW was not the first time that hip-hop has made its presence felt in AEW. JPEGMAFIA has made appearances in segments with Darby Allin. Westside Gunn performed his verse from the track “DR. BIRDS” for Daniel Garcia during his entrance on Dynamite for his ROH Pure Championship match with Wheeler Yuta. Rick Ross has also been an on-screen supporter of Swerve Strickland. It is safe to say that there will be much crossover between hip-hop and professional wrestling in AEW and other promotions as well.
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The friendship between Hook and Bronson shows how intertwined all various different forms of entertainment are. Hook being a fan of Bronson’s music and Bronson being a fan of professional wrestling. Whether it be music, professional wrestling, and more, everyone is a fan of something. What Hook and Bronson show is how these interests combine and how they can create something that is fascinating and eye-catching that fans can watch and enjoy. With Bronson and Hook teaming up, it was something special to witness for fans of both hip-hop and professional wrestling to get to be able to see in a major city that is so huge and monumental for both.
