"Just kind of flat" - Hall of Famer criticizes AEW's booking of former star Jake Hager (Exclusive)

Jake Hager was one of AEW's initial signings and made his debut on the inaugural episode of Dynamite. The 43-year-old aligned himself with Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Santana and Ortiz to form the promotion's first major heel stable, The Inner Circle.

He left the promotion in 2024 and recently announced his retirement from wrestling. Hall of Fame journalist Bill Apter recently criticized AEW's booking of the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Hager spent nearly half a decade with the promotion, but never won any championship.

Apter was talking on an episode of The Wrestling Time Machine on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, where he was full of praise for Jake Hager as a wrestler. He said that he felt Hager was a really good heel but never caught on in WWE. He expected Tony Khan would do great things with the wrestler, but his booking was a little flat in his opinion.

"I thought he was a really good talent. I thought he was a good heel, but he didn't catch on. Then he went to AEW, and I thought they were gonna do something major with him, and it just, it was just kind of flat. Nothing really caught on." Apter said.

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In his five years with AEW, Hager was only ever seen as a henchman for Chris Jericho. He remained beside The Lionheart for most of his run, first as part of The Inner Circle, and later joining him in the Jericho Appreciation Society. He became extremely over with the fans with his purple bucket hat gimmick, but it didn't amount to anything more than him being a comedic relief.

He left the promotion in May 2024 after choosing not to renew his contract with All Elite Wrestling. Having retired from professional wrestling, he's gone into business for himself and has opened 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