AEW Rampage: Powerhouse Hobbs doesn’t need QTV

This week had a special episode of AEW Rampage on Saturday night. The opening match saw Penta El Zero M challenge Powerhouse Hobbs for the TNT Championship.

Last week on Rampage, Hobbs faced Rey Fénix for the title. He came close to losing the match a few times. He hit Fénix with the Spinebuster, followed by putting him in a torture rack. After hitting Town Business, Hobbs retained.

After the match, Hobbs started to intimidate Alex Abrahantes. This allowed QT Marshall to use the Diamond Cutter on Abrahantes. These actions would lead to Fénix wanting revenge for both his brother and his friend.

On Saturday night, Hobbs was accompanied by members of QTV: Marshall, Aaron Solo, and Harley.    Penta was accompanied by Abrahantes, which provided to be helpful when Marshall tied the back of Penta’s mask to the ropes.

While referee Aubrey Edwards was distracted, Solo got on the top turnbuckle in an attempt to stop Penta. Instead he was kicked in the stomach and put in the Fear Factor. Edwards was checking on Solo when Hobbs hit Penta with the TNT title. Hobbs quickly got the win.

Hobbs moved to 10-0 on the year. Excalibur summed it up best when he said, “Hobbs doesn’t need QT.” AEW seemed to drop the ball with Hobbs last year. There was a lot of starts and stops with him. While the “Book of Hobbs” began as vignettes where fans got to know about him, they saddled him with a physical book. It seems like there was always a disconnect with where Hobbs was and where he should’ve been.

He was in a feud with Wardlow and Samoa Joe, but seemed to be the odd man out. When Wardlow defeated Joe for the TNT Championship, Hobbs immediately got a title shot after winning  the “Face of the Revolution” ladder match. The consensus was that this was the right move. However, he quickly had his match with Wardlow and beat him for the title. He won with the help of Marshall.

QTV aired the following week in an outdated TMZ News parody segment. The segments have been a waste of time and don’t do anything to help Hobbs. It’s one thing to have Marshall as a manager, but to be bogged down by QTV and the members isn’t doing anything to help Hobbs. The longer it goes on, the more it will hurt Hobbs. Hobbs is a great talent and doesn’t need dumb gimmicks to get cheap heat or win matches. There’s a simple formula; let Hobbs do what Hobbs does and he’ll be successful on his own.