EC3 heaps praise on former AEW star: "One thing that never was inconsistent was his work" (Exclusive)

Former WWE wrestler EC3 has recently heaped some praise on a former AEW star whom he shared the locker room with during their time together in WWE. AEW has had many former WWE stars on its roster in the six years of its existence, with some of them even winning the AEW World Championship.

The star in question here is former Inner Circle and Jericho Appreciation Society member Jake Hager. The 43-year-old spent considerable time with EC3 while in WWE, despite the two never coming face-to-face on screen. They had varying levels of success in the Stamford-based promotion, but carved out a successful career for themselves.

During an episode of The Wrestling Outlaws on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, EC3 called Hager "a bada** dude" and praised the fact that he was never inconsistent in his work, despite being booked inconsistently at times. He even claimed that Hager did very well financially as well in the industry before announcing his retirement earlier this year.

"He's a bada** dude. I mean, a shooter, if you will. You can talk about, like, the ups and the downs and sort of the inconsistencies in the booking, but I think one thing that never was inconsistent was his work. [It] is very, very, very good. He's very, very believable. He's very, very realistic because he's a real bada** dude. It's hard to ever say anything like, Oh, well, he could have been more. I mean, dude was a world champion, right, and like, that's a lot. Not a lot of people get to say that. And he was in the industry for a very long time; he probably did, I know he did, very financially well." EC3 said.

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After leaving AEW in May 2024, Hager wrestled a handful of matches on the independent circuit for a while. After 19 years in the professional wrestling business, Hager decided to quietly hang up his boots in August of this year and has started his own trucking company.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Faiz Ahmed