Jake Hager had a mixed bag of success in the WWE. The former Jack Swagger was a former World Heavyweight Champion and US Champion, but his run with the big strap came as the result of winning the Money In the Bank briefcase. Hager wound up cashing in on Chris Jericho, though according to an episode of Talk Is Jericho featuring Hager, that wasn’t the original plan.
As Swagger, he brutally attacked Cena with the briefcase, setting up potentially cashing in on Cena, but wound up cashing in on Jericho after Edge left Jericho laying. Hager says the original plan was to cash in on Cena, but plans changed due to Cena being unwilling to do the job to him.
“I had a little inclination, but I had no idea what was going to happen. The night before, I teased it on Raw. I hit Cena with the briefcase, I snuck up on him when he had one of his brilliant promo segments. Later, come to find out, he refused to do the job for me for the [WWE] Championship. We won’t talk about that. Ugh. ‘The most unselfish top man in the business.'”
Hager remembered the details of his cash in on Jericho, and says the process of that happening also allowed him to trust Jericho and seemed to set up the bond that now continues in AEW.
“That was in Phoenix. I got a call that night to come to Vegas. We get to the building, I get there 30 minutes early so I’m waiting. I see [John Laurinaitis] go into the office, here you [Jericho] come, here Edge comes, I was going to come in behind you guys, then the door shuts. It was about five minutes, then I go in there. When we were in there and it was laid out, you turned to me and were like, ‘You better not fuck this up,’ and you were dead serious and very sincere. It always reminded me of my best wrestling coach. Once you said that, I looked up to you and knew I could trust you.”
Though Hager didn’t hold the title long, just 79 days, it still put him in the main event spotlight for the company even if it was just temporary.
h/t to Fightful for the transcription.
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