Jake Hager: I’m Very Jaded From My Exit At AEW, I’m Very Proud Of The Stuff I Did There

Jake Hager says he’s very jaded from his AEW exit.

Between the years of 2019 and 2024, Jake Hager would work for All Elite Wrestling and during his time with the promotion, he was rarely too far removed from Chris Jericho, being part of multiple factions with the former AEW World Champion.  However, despite this, Hager says he feels very jaded from his exit from AEW

While speaking on the Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Hager spoke about his exit from the company, noting that he believes Chris Jericho is the reason why his purple hat got over.

“I’m very jaded from my exit at AEW. I’m very proud of the stuff I did there. But at the same time, I find myself questioning right now. I wish I would have just stayed in MMA at some point. Inner Circle was one of my favorite things to do in pro wrestling. I love those guys. JAS, Daddy Magic. I mean, I just really loved working with Chris. He’s number one on my Mount Rushmore, Chris Jericho, because he can just constantly reinvent himself. He can not only do that, but he can see what he has around him, and he knows how to elevate us, bring it up and make it look good. Chris Jericho is the reason why that purple hat was so over.”

Chris then pushed Hager on what he meant by Jericho being the reason for the hat getting over.

“It was his intuition. We did that backstage promo, and it was live to the crowd, and where I first said, ‘I like this hat!’ The crowd just popped. Once he heard that pop, that’s all he needed to know.”

Chris then asked Jake why he re-signed with the company at that point in time.

“I didn’t know what I was gonna do next. I mean, I will say that AEW paid well. So I re-signed to give me more time to figure out what’s next. We negotiated the contract a little bit longer, but the writing was on the wall, and I could see that from the way he treated me. Even when it was me and Daddy Magic and Jeff, and we’re doing that little threesome. We had a little stint against Billy Gunn and his boys, the tag team, and we did that rap off, we went out and rapped in the ring. I mean, who doesn’t want to see white guys rap on television? But it’s Daddy Magic. So you’re gonna love it. You’re gonna tune in. Right before that happened, like the beat started, and he was like, ‘I’m gonna forget. I’m gonna forget.’ I was like, Dude, it’s just a promo. Just remember a promo. He turns to me and goes, ‘I f*cking forgot!’ And so I say the first word that starts his little lyrical conquest. And he had it from there, but, man, I loved working with those guys.”

For more about Hager speaking about his time in All Elite Wrestling, you can read more about that here.

Thank you to Chris Van Vliet for the quotes