Powerhouse Hobbs wasn’t sure how fans were going to receive his return. Recency bias is a real thing in the wrestling industry, and any extended absence comes with the reality that you’re out of sight and out of mind.
When he walked out of the tunnel to the roar of the live audience as Ricochet’s surprise partner just two weeks ago, any anxiety over what the reaction would look like evaporated. For Hobbs, it was like he’d never left.
“It was one of those things where it let me know how special this business is, how special the fans are,” Hobbs tells Uproxx Sports. “When it comes down to it, we do it for them. We do it for their entertainment. We do it for their reactions. We do it because we love it. We all love to go out and perform in front of them. But then when they go ahead and give you that love back, man, it makes you want to go even harder.”
As smooth as he looked in his return to the ring, the prior seven months were anything but easy.
He ruptured his patella tendon in a main event match, going from the high of being prominently featured on television on Wednesday night to having surgery the following Monday. The next day, he flew across the country, and just a week later was back in the gym determined to return stronger.
“I probably had a few days to be in my feelings and soak everything in,” Hobbs says. “But my main objective was to come back better than when I left. This recovery, I would get up at five, eat, in the gym by six on one leg for two hours, come home, eat, then off to PT for three hours a day, Monday through Saturday.”
There were moments Hobbs says he felt helpless. He couldn’t bend his knee at all. He remembers the emotions of asking his three-year-old daughter to help take his sock off, asking his son to help him stand, or making sure he had something to hold onto so he didn’t fall in the shower.
The experience, Hobbs says, humbled him. Small accomplishments compounded. A strong support system that included conversations with wrestling legends like Sting, Mark Henry, and Billy Gunn helped him prepare for the ups, downs, and evolving mindset in how he’d navigate his return.
In his time away, Hobbs focused on the things he could control and put extra effort on how he could elevate other areas of his game.
“I got a lot of promos just sitting on the couch watching wrestling. I was very angry, not being able to do what I want to do,” Hobbs says.
Practicing patience is something Hobbs has had to learn over his four years in AEW, and especially now in what’s essentially a fresh start. You can’t manufacture many of the special moments in wrestling — they’re going to happen organically, like the infamous Meat chants last year. “You’re going to hear the people tell you what they want,” Hobbs says, “so it’s on you to capitalize on it.”
Hearing the crowd react to his return, and feeding off their energy over the past few weeks, should give him confidence that he’ll be able to be successful in his career refresh. He created a list of aspirations during his time away, including another singles championship reign.
There’s no order to how he goes about checking off his accomplishments, but admits the primary focus is a “longer, stronger reign.” His path to wearing championship gold again comes with confidence, believing in himself, and turning the volume up on his character.
Before his injury, Hobbs says there were discussions about how he could start bringing who he is in real life to his character. Now that he’s had time to sit and stew on the future, he’s ready to show the world who he is.
“I’m going to start bringing my life into my character, the things that I hate, the things that I love. I’m just gonna show everyone how much more intense I can be, how destructive I can be, how I don’t give a shit at times who’s in my way,” Hobbs says. “In the end, this business, there only can be one. It’s going to come to a point where I’m going to show everybody that it’s all about me. They’re either going to be with me or be against me. It doesn’t matter. They boo me, I’m just going to start tearing everything up in front of them.
“And I think that’s what wrestling is missing a little bit. That one guy who makes people afraid, but they want to see him kick someone’s ass. I feel that it’s time to bring it out.”
