Hook and Action Bronson’s friendship and pro wrestling team-up started as innocently as possible.
About 10 years ago with Hook still in middle school, he wanted to show his father, wrestling legend Taz, a New York-based hip-hop artist whose songs and music videos were influenced by his love of wrestling.
Taz, an admitted classic rock guy, had never seen or heard of Bronson before. But he was immediately blown away.
“I’m like, ‘Wow, the guy’s not just good, he’s awesome,’” Taz said.
Hosting a morning show for CBS Radio at the time, Taz noticed Bronson was following him on Twitter. Taz followed him back and asked him to be a guest on the program. The two hit it off. Bronson was a big fan of ECW, where Taz made his name during his wrestling career. They stayed in contact, and over time, Hook and Bronson, both living in New York City, grew closer.
“I always looked up to him,” Hook said of Bronson. “The way he constructs his career, I admire [him], and he inspires me in a lot of different ways. I’ve always been a massive fan of his. Now, having this relationship and this friendship with him, it’s really wild.”
It’s matured into a little something extra, as the two will now be partners in a tag-team match at All Elite Wrestling’s “Dynamite Grand Slam” Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, in the 38-year-old Bronson’s hometown and not far from where Hook, 23, grew up playing lacrosse at Plainedge High School on Long Island. They will take on Jericho Appreciation Society members “Cool Hand” Angelo Parker and “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard in the entertainer’s first foray into the ring. The match will be broadcast on Friday’s ‘AEW Rampage” (10 p.m., TNT).
Hook described the opportunity as “incredible” and “wild.” Brooklyn native Taz admitted it will be a little strange to see them in a match together in a borough he made so many memories in with ECW at Elks Lodge on Queens Boulevard, where Bronson watched matches as a teenager.
“To me, Bronson’s like family,” Taz said. “We’re all that close.”
Hook, whose real name is Tyler Senerchia, decided on getting serious about wrestling when school shut down early in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. He started accompanying Taz — a commentator and on-screen personality for AEW — to the company’s fan-less television tapings and grew to be well-liked backstage by picking up odd jobs. Given his years around pro wrestling at home and his background as a Division I lacrosse player at Bucknell and Sacred Heart, Hook suggested to his dad he could join the family business. It prompted numerous conversations over a two-to-three-week span.
“When I was younger, my dad told me to be anything but a pro wrestler,” Hook said. “As I got older, things changed, and the business today is not the same business that he broke into.”
Taz still wanted to make sure his son, 21 at the time, understood the commitment to the wrestling lifestyle it was going to take. Taz started training his son along with Pat Buck and Curt Hawkins’ team at Create A Pro Wrestling school in Hicksville.
Hook suplexes Ricky Starks.AEW“If he’s old enough to go to a bar and get a shot of whiskey, he’s old enough to make his own decisions, right?” Taz said. “That’s how I was raised.”
It didn’t take long for Taz to notice Hook taking his skills as a lacrosse player and rapidly incorporating them into his first-step explosion, his power, his hip thrust, his footwork and his hand speed in a ring. They had made the right choice.
“I realized [our] third session, he’s something pretty unique here,” Taz said. “And that was it.”
In that time, Hook’s name was first mentioned on AEW TV by Cody Rhodes last November on “Dynamite.” He asked Taz as part of a storyline why his son was training with the Nightmare Factory and not his father. Several weeks later, trainees from Rhodes and QT Marshall’s wrestling school appeared on the show. Taz got involved and took his son with him. Hook then became a silent partner in his dad’s Team Taz faction that included Ricky Starks, Will Hobbs, and Brian Cage as a bit of a potato chip-eating mascot with a cool demeanor.
CM Punk then started the catchphrase “Send Hook,” when talking about who he wanted to wrestle in AEW. Hook and the idea of him being “sent” took off virally as an internet meme, which became the spark for his in-ring debut. But first, he needed entrance music.
Hook approached Bronson about using one of his songs and was told he could have whichever one he wanted. Hook went through “almost his entire library” before picking “The Chairman’s Intent.” The song gives off a sense of mystery, featuring lines like “You don’t even know me” and a sense of confident uniqueness with “there will never be a part two” that fit Hook’s character.
“Upon listening more and more, I just knew ‘Chairman’s Intent’ was the one,” Hook said.
It blared for the first time on the Dec. 8, 2021, “Rampage,” before Hook defeated beloved jobber Fuego Del Sol in 3:20 with his dad’s Tazmission submission hold, now called the Red Rum. Hook was finally sent.
It helped show the audience how differently the 6-foot-1, 202-pound Long Islander was going to be presented in AEW. Hook has wrestled just 11 times total, winning all of them. His longest match, a tag bout with Danhausen against Tony Nese and Mark Sterling at this year’s “Double or Nothing” pay-per-view, lasted 5:20. His longest singles match is 3:55.
Hook, whose long hair often covers his face as he walks to the ring, rarely talks on camera. He uses non-verbal cues and an icy stare instead. It makes when he does speak more meaningful. On Twitter, his official account only follows AEW and has sent zero tweets yet has eclipsed 40,500 followers. Taz loves that Hook’s presentation avoids over-saturation, and the people in AEW from top to bottom understand that.
“He’s gonna be handled different,” Taz said. “He’s unique. I can’t tell you what it is about him that’s unique, but I could tell you keeping him special means you’re not gonna see him every single week on TV. You’re not gonna see him where he’s constantly on social media or doing stuff like that. Good luck. I can’t even get the guy to return a text message.”
Hook is the reigning FTW champion.AEWHook believes the character you see on TV is “a part of who I am” but not the whole person. Taz said his son has always been reserved, extremely intelligent, well-versed in what’s going on in the world when one does have a conversation with him, and he has friendships that go back to his youth lacrosse days. With that said, when it’s time to make noise, “it’s gonna be an explosion” just as it’s portrayed on TV.
“We might not see Hook for a little bit, but when he’s there, it’s something like, ‘Boom!,’ impactful, like what the hell just happened,” Taz said. “That’s Hook. That’s kind of what he is. A lot of people want more. You know what, last I checked, that’s a good thing.”
More came in the form of Hook winning the FTW (F–k The World) championship – an outlaw belt not directly tied to one promotion created by Taz in 1998 that was featured prominently in ECW and not in AEW. Beating Starks for the belt with his father on commentary on the Aug. 17 “Dynamite” has been the highlight for both father and son. Taz said calling the match was an “out-of-body experience” while Hook called it “the most surreal moment of my life.”
“I grew up in my house, that belt was in my living room,” Hook said. “I was a little kid. I would play with it every so often. I never imagined at that point that one day I would be FTW champion.”
He also never imagined getting to team with Bronson, who underwent a 127-pound weight loss since the pandemic and began training with Taz and Hook roughly a year ago at Create A Pro. It was inconsistent in the beginning and picked up more frequently from there, according to Taz. He got a vibe early on that Bronson, who played football at Bayside High School and took up Brazilian jiu-jitsu in 2021, had a good grasp of pro wrestling in the ring and as a performer.
After seeing enough of Hook and Bronson together, Taz sensed something special, and the three talked about doing an actual live match. He described them as the proverbial Porsche and the tank, likening it to the style of Bret Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart as the Hart Foundation.
“That’s always stuck in my head,” Taz said. “Imagine getting two guys that have that kind of vibe, and that’s what I think when you see Hook and Action Bronson compete. You’re gonna see the Porsche and the tank. I promise you.”
Their bout with Menard and Parker was set up on the All Out pre-show last month. After Hook defeated Parker in his first FTW title defense, Bronson came from behind the guard rail to pull both Menard and Parker off his friend during their post-match attack. Hook and Bronson later challenged the duo to a fight at Grand Slam in a series of vignettes. Hook says Bronson’s first time in a ring “isn’t just some celebrity spot” and the hip-hop artist with 2.2 million Instagram followers is “stoked” to live out his wrestling dream.
Hook and Action BronsonAEW“Dude’s a beast,” Hook said. “He can go — straight up.”
He and Bronson teaming up in their backyard will be a moment 10 years in the making, starting with a son simply wanting to show his dad a new hip-hop artist he liked.
“It’s not weird, but it is weird because, back in the day when my son was a little kid, he was listening to this guy’s music, and I said, ‘This guy is great.’ ” Taz said. “And that’s how it happened.”
