Jake Hager Reveals WWE Contract Talks Fell Short Before His 2017 Exit

TLDR

Jake Hager revealed on the Off the Rails podcast with Jasmine St. Claire that his 2017 WWE exit came after contract negotiations failed to meet the salary he felt he had earned. He said his interest in MMA, sparked three years earlier, combined with the success of independent wrestlers like Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, convinced him he could leave WWE, build his value through MMA and the indies, and later return to wrestling at a higher level. Hager went on to compete in Bellator MMA and later joined AEW as a founding member of the Inner Circle, though he never returned to WWE as originally planned.