"I don't get it" - AEW's mystery masked man, Hologram, has failed to impress wrestling legend
AEW has been teasing an interesting arrival to the locker room in recent times. However, it has not made a great impression on a wrestling veteran. The name in question is none other than Dutch Mantell.
For the past few weeks on AEW Collision, a mystery masked man, Hologram, has been teasing his arrival through vignettes. The initial video featured a masked man running into a portal and going into a time warp. The latest vignette, which aired during the July 13, 2024, episode of Collision, concluded with the phrase "next week," which indicates that Hologram might make his first televised appearance on the July 20 episode of the Saturday Night Show.
While many fans initially speculated that former WWE Superstar Ricochet was the mystery masked man, it was later reported by Bodyslam.net's Cassidy Haynes that that mysterious figure was Mexican Luchador Aramis. According to PWInsider, Aramis signed with AEW in February 2024.
Wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell recently gave his thoughts on the vignettes. Speaking on his Storytime with Dutch Mantell podcast, the former WWE manager stated that the 13-second videos didn't have enough content to evoke interest in fans.
"No, I thought it was just a test pattern-type deal. It's only 13 seconds. I think most people who watched it didn't even know what it was, and after it was done, it was done, and I don't think any of them thought it was like a video mistake or a glitch. Now, I ran it back, and it was the same thing. I was like, 'What's wrong with this thing?' So, I ran it back two or three times because I'm sort of dense up here sometimes, but I don't get it. There's not enough there to even make an impression," he said. [0:27-1:17]
Tony Khan accomplished one thing from the AEW Hologram teaser, according to veteran
In the same video, Dutch Mantell spoke about Tony Khan's booking and explained how the teaser got people talking and guessing about the identity of the masked star. The veteran claimed that the AEW President had won ''half the battle'' by evoking people's curiosity.
"Tony Khan, It's hard to envision what he's thinking about in his booking time and in his off time. I think he might have lost his mind. I think this wrestling has driven him crazy. But I will say this: since he talked about it, he kinda accomplished what he set out to do, and it was to make people say, 'What the hell was that?' So, he made me think about it. So, that's half the battle," he added. [1:19-1:56]
It will be interesting to see if Hologram makes an appearance on AEW Collision later this weekend.