Action Bronson is the latest artist to have a song officially licensed for an All Elite Wrestling entrance theme. Hook, the 22-year-old son of New York wrestling luminary Taz, makes his AEW in-ring debut on the TNT show AEW Rampage tonight. Taped in Long Island on Wednesday night, Hook will walk down the ramp to Bronson’s single “The Chairman’s Intent” from Blue Chips 7000.
Using the song was Hook’s idea. “I’ve been an Action Bronson fan since I was in sixth grade,” he told Pitchfork. “I would hear him shout out all these old school wrestlers, old school strong man shit, and all these old athletes. With that and the New York vibe, I had a feeling that my dad would fuck with it as well. When I showed him, he loved it.”
Taz befriended Action Bronson not long after learning about his music; the rapper was a mutual fan who grew up watching ECW. “Recently Taz hit me up saying that Hook was making his debut and they wanted to use that song,” Bronson said over the phone. “I was like, ‘Absolutely.’”
In contrast to WWE’s practice of largely having in-house composers create original entrance music (with a few rare exceptions), AEW CEO Tony Khan has built a reputation for licensing established popular songs more regularly—Orange Cassidy’s Pixies entrance, for example. “I’ve always wanted to use licensed music in AEW on our wrestling shows,” Khan told Pitchfork, saying he was inspired by ’80s wrestling companies and ECW in the ’90s who “used outlaw music and weren’t really paying the fair rights.”
Khan says he’s personally picked out “a lot” of music AEW has licensed, but noted that Hook and Taz’s request introduced him to Action Bronson’s music. “I liked it; I liked the idea, and I wanted to support them,” Khan said. “We reached out to the publishers and we worked something out. I am paying a fee, but they probably could’ve raked me over the coals a lot more than they did. It seemed like they wanted to work out something fair, so I was OK to pay a fair fee. It’s a great song, and Action Bronson’s a great guy.”
For Khan, he saw licensing “The Chairman’s Intent” as “an investment in the presentation of a very important young wrestler.” Hook has appeared on AEW’s TV shows for over a year in a non-speaking and non-wrestling support role. During that time, he’s become a huge hit with fans on social media (some of whom call themselves “Hookers”). “People really like Hook! He’s gotten great responses without really doing much,” Khan said. “There’s lots of cool memes where fans can’t wait to see Taz unleash his son Hook.”
Hook’s professional wrestling debut took place on national TV, in his hometown, while his favorite song by his favorite rapped blasted on arena speakers. How did that feel? “It was hard as fuck, honestly,” Hook said. “It was tough, man. I was excited. I felt like I could run through a brick wall before going out there. Having Action Bronson for my debut in New York? It was surreal.”
“When that man walks out and you hear that music pop, you hear that crowd jump, it’s something special,” Bronson said. “That pop that he got? That’s a big pop for a brand new wrestler. I see good things. He’s a specimen.”
Bronson recently went to Long Island and trained in the ring with Hook. The rapper called himself a “supporter of the team,” which prompted the question—is Action Bronson an official member of Hook and his father’s wrestling stable Team Taz? “Hey, listen, I can’t talk about that right now,” Bronson replied. “That’s to be left in the air. You know where my affiliations lie and how deep they run. You can do the math.”
Read Pitchfork’s interview with AEW wrestler Lee Moriarty, “What Professional Wrestling Prodigy Lee Moriarty Is Listening to Right Now.”
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