wrestling / News

Jake Hager Recalls Taking Risk By Leaving WWE, Discusses How AEW Has Changed His Life

May 7, 2021 | Posted by Blake Lovell
Jake Hager AEW 6-3-20

In a recent interview with The Independent, Jake Hager discussed leaving WWE back in 2017, how AEW has changed his life, and much more. Here are some highlights:

Jake Hager on leaving WWE back in 2017: “As soon as I left the WWE. The whole point was to get signed with AEW and that was in March 2017. They weren’t even an official company then, but it was kind of on the horizon and you could see it was coming.”

On taking the risk to walk away from WWE without another surefire job lined up: “[Leaving] was ballsy, but I had to supplement a big income to try and maintain the lifestyle that I’d had for ten years. I had kids, school, cars, houses and just like anyone else, I’ve got to pay for it. So, the fear of leaving is very big, and it was very hard. It was my wife who said that I could do it and I believed her. There was this time when I lost a bunch of independent bookings and I was putting my daughter down to sleep and I am like ‘what am I going to do?’ I am tearing up right now because I remember that moment, I’ll always remember that. Luckily, we were able to get a second mortgage on our home to pay for the rest of the year and pay for the fight camp that was coming up at the end of 2018. It was an incredible two years with a lot of ups and downs, but I have got to say that when you’re down, you have to remember the finish line, because you might be right in front of it.”

On how AEW has changed his life: “I had a great career before I got here and I could’ve just stayed doing MMA, but the opportunity to work with Tony Khan, Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks and Chris Jericho – who is one of the greatest of all time – it was really something you could never pass up. All I want AEW to do is grow and grow because I see the leadership with guys like Tony and Chris, they see us like assets and like athletes. I’m so blessed and so honoured, and I’ll always say that being at AEW has changed my life.”

article topics :

AEW, Jake Hager, WWE, Blake Lovell