Jake Hager recalls advice from The Undertaker during his time as WWE World Champion in 2010.
When Jack Swagger won the WWE World Championship from Chris Jericho by cashing in his Money in the Bank two days after WrestleMania 26, it appeared at the time that he would be the future of WWE.
Nearly twelve years later, Jake Hager is in AEW and his time as Jack Swagger and his WWE World Heavyweight Championship run is a footnote in the long history of WWE. Despite the lack of critical success in WWE, Jake Hager did learn from his time as World Champion in 2010.
Speaking on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Jake Hager reflected on his time as Champion, specifically recalling a conversation with the Undertaker that, he says, put a lot of the importance of being World Champion into perspective for him.
"The biggest thing I learned from carrying the World Title is, Undertaker pulled me aside. I did something, which he didn't like, and he made a point to tell me about it. It was a good talk. He pulled me aside and was like, 'Look, this job is only worth it if you're on top as far as financially. In the middle, down at the bottom, there's a lot of scrapping, you're away on the road too much and don't make it, you have to be on top for it to be worth it.' I always took that as a grain of salt and where I needed to be at and how to value myself as an individual. When you're being a pro wrestling, you really have to know what your value is so you know what to ask for and what not to ask for. That speech from him kind of put it in perspective a little bit more."
Now, Hager is part of Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle over a decade after defeating him for the championship in WWE. Jake recently commented on never leaving wrestling for a full-time MMA career. Learn more here.
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