what happened to hook aew

HOOK is still with AEW and, as of February 2026, is actually in a more prominent on-screen role again, not gone or released.

Quick Scoop: What happened to HOOK in AEW?

Over the last couple of years, HOOK’s story in AEW has been a bit up and down, which is why people keep asking “what happened to HOOK AEW.” Here’s the arc in plain terms.

Early hype and slowdown

• HOOK debuted in AEW with huge buzz as Taz’s son, quickly racking up short, dominant wins and becoming FTW Champion.

• After that initial hot streak, his momentum cooled: he cycled in and out of the FTW title scene and was often in shorter programs or squash-style matches, which led to fan criticism that AEW was “dropping the ball” on him.

Absence and health-related break (2025)

• In 2025 he disappeared from AEW TV for a stretch; reports noted he hadn’t wrestled since April after visibly vomiting during a tag match with The Death Riders, which was cited as the real reason for his absence.

• Around the same general period, there was also talk of him being pulled from a planned AEW World Trios Title match with The Opps vs. the Death Riders, with a kayfabe angle that he’d been attacked off-camera to explain him being removed from the bout.

Contract and future with AEW

• Despite rumors that he might jump to WWE/NXT, reporting in early and mid‑2025 indicated AEW expected HOOK to remain a key part of their future and that he had aligned with a major wrestling agent (Barry Bloom) for negotiations.

• Later in 2025, multiple reports and fan discussions pointed to HOOK re‑signing a new, longer‑term deal with AEW, reinforcing that the company wasn’t done with him.

Current status in 2026

• By February 2026, HOOK is not “missing” from AEW; instead he’s been pushed into a featured role as the new on-screen leader of the group The Opps after Samoa Joe suffered a non‑contact injury and had to step back.

• On AEW programming in mid‑February 2026, commentary and write‑ups framed him as the new boss of The Opps, with his “first order of business” being to recruit new members, even sending Katsuyori Shibata to Japan for international recruiting while HOOK focuses on domestic recruits.

Fan/forum viewpoint

• Some fans still feel HOOK hasn’t fully lived up to his early aura, criticizing repetitive squash matches, limited character development, and body‑language quirks like standing in the corner not watching opponents.

• Others argue he still has big upside, suggesting things like an extended run in Japan (NJPW’s Best of the Super Juniors, for example) to round out his experience and help him grow into a more complete, long‑term star.

Overall: nothing “bad” secretly happened to HOOK; he had a health‑related absence and some stop‑start booking, but he re‑upped with AEW and is now being repositioned on TV as the leader of The Opps going into 2026.

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Wondering what happened to HOOK in AEW? From his early hype and mid‑2025 absence to his contract status and new 2026 role leading The Opps, here’s the latest news and forum discussion.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.