"He needs to come home," "One last run" - Fans react after Michael Cole surprisingly namedrops AEW star on SmackDown

WWE commentator Michael Cole surprisingly referenced a prominent AEW official on this week's episode of Smackdown. The star in question, Taz, used to serve as the legendary announcer's colleague many years ago.

The June 27 edition of Friday Night Smackdown aired from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and featured a singles match between Jimmy Uso and the newly-arrived JC Mateo, formerly NJPW's Jeff Cobb. The bout ended in around six minutes, with the New Bloodline member picking up the victory.

At one point during the matchup, veteran WWE announcer Michael Cole seemingly drew a comparison between Mateo and former ECW and WWE veteran Taz, with whom he used to share the commentary desk back in the day. The Human Suplex Machine is currently signed with AEW, where he lends his voice on commentary every week on Dynamite and on the company's PPVs.

Fans quickly rushed to X/Twitter to share their reactions to Cole paying tribute to his former colleague. Several users commended the 56-year-old for the gesture, reminiscing on his performance alongside Taz as a commentary duo on Smackdown. Some even argued that the former ECW champion should return to WWE, with one commenter suggesting that his son, AEW up-and-comer Hook, should join him.

"That was nice of him," wrote a fan. "Should have thrown in a “But I digress”", quipped another fan. "Tazz and Cole were the commentary team of my childhood so I really like this." - posted a user. "Free Hook and Taz," posted another user.

Taz officially signed with All Elite Wrestling in January, 2020, to become a member of the company's broadcast team.

AEW legend's son's major non-wrestling accomplishment

All Elite announcer Taz's son, Hook, has been missing from action since this past April. He was replaced in The Opps by Powerhouse Hobbs, who took the former FTW Champion's spot alongside Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata and helped them unseat The Death Riders for the AEW World Trios Championships.

After several weeks, Hook finally returned to avenge himself on Claudio Castagnoli during the 2025 Anarchy in the Arena match at last month's Double or Nothing. Interestingly, the budding star refused to reunite with Joe, and walked out on the latter after taking out Claudio.

While he has not returned to AEW television since, The Cold Hearted Handsome Devil did star in Money Talks, a 33-minute short film that premiered recently at the Tribeca Film Festival 2025. Hook's father Taz shared an X/Twitter post on the subject earlier this month, writing:

We went to the movies tonight! HOOK on the BIG screen…tonight was world premiere of Money Talks @Tribeca @AngelikaFilm_NY @730hook

It remains to be seen when Hook will be cleared to return to action in All Elite Wrestling.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee