Jake Hager Says Everything Changed In AEW When Cody Rhodes Left, Claims Tony Khan Wouldn’t Respond To Chris Jericho For Weeks

Jake Hager joined AEW at the beginning, closing the first episode of AEW Dynamite to form The Inner Circle with Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Mike Santana, and Ortiz.

Hager was regularly featured on television as a member of the Inner Circle, and then the Jericho Appreciation Society. He stopped appearing on television in February 2024 and departed the company in May 2024.

Speaking to Bill Apter, Chris Featherstone, and Dutch Mantell on Sportskeeda, Hager reflected on his time in AEW.

“I was 17 years non-stop on TV. Very blessed to have that. To get to that other career and have someone like Tony Khan, who has been in this business for a cup of coffee, and doesn’t really know…he can’t make himself a sandwich, let alone write a storyline that will last. He can spend a lot of money and make a big debut and make a lot of fireworks, but in the end run, he is in charge and we’re supposed to trust him to make storylines that make our careers, that we’re investing in his company, last,” he said.

Asked if Tony was the only booker, Hager replied, “Absolutely. There are ‘yes men’ that help him write his storylines, but there is no one there that can tell him no.”

Khan founded AEW in 2019 with Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) being named EVPs due to their involvement in the formation of the promotion. Rhodes left in February 2022 to return to WWE.

Asked about Cody’s involvement during his time there, Hager said, “I was thinking about that today. I think everything changed after he left because he was involved with it, and after that, it just kind of became a free-for-all. Young Bucks and Kenny still had a big say in what they were doing. Chris (Jericho), obviously, has a big say in what he’s doing. Even Chris, he would tell me that Tony would not respond to his messages for two weeks. It became a point where, either AEW is important or it’s not. It just seemed like it was not to him. They stopped doing production meetings. They stopped doing anything to make the show timely. We would be waiting around to 5 PM to find out what we were doing that day. What live television show does that? Only one with money behind it.”

Later during the interview, Hager was asked why AEW doesn’t have more writers like WWE does.

“You know why? Because this is [Tony’s] toy box and nobody else can play with his toys but him. It’s so mind-blowing. Tony himself will always talk about, ‘I have so many businesses. I have a soccer club in England. I have this other business.’ Either AEW is important or it’s not. Put some fucking attention on it. Don’t make us wait until 5 PM to know what we’re doing that day. You’ve been in this business for a cup of coffee, you have no idea what you’re doing, and you can’t admit that you’re making mistakes. Admit that you’re making mistakes and then people can work with you. Other than that, if you want to act like you’re holier than thou and you know everything is perfect in pro wrestling, okay, good luck,” said Hager.

Hager has said he’s retired from wrestling as he works on his trucking business.

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