All Elite Wrestling’s Jake Hager has opened up about what he considers key differences between AEW and WWE. Speaking with Busted Open Radio, Hager talked about the creative freedoms in AEW compared to his time in WWE. He noted how Superstars would often begin a new storyline or angle, only for it be stopped dead.
“If it makes sense up there [in WWE], they are not going to do it. It has to not make sense for them to want to go forward with it,” Hager explained. “That part gets frustrating because you see so many times that I had really cool moments in my career and then the next day it gets stopped for no reason and who knows why.”
“Maybe I did something or maybe it’s the powers that be that chose it but it is really frustrating because you put your body on the line; you put your back on the line and your neck on the line and give your body to these people and you go out there and give your heart to these people and all of a sudden it is taken away. You don’t even have an explanation for it and then you are back at the bottom of the pile again. I don’t think you can sustain, that is not a good business model.”
He continued,” They say that talent is the biggest asset of the company but they don’t treat it as that, so it is so frustrating that you get storylines canceled day of, hours before the show is about to go on. That is one thing we know about AEW. We know the script a week out, even before we go out to TV so we are already thinking about what to do and how to entertain our great fans.”
Night And Day
When asked about the differences between AEW and WWE locker rooms, Hager said they are “night and day.” Part of that is the approachability of AEW President, Tony Khan. Hager noted that Khan’s friendly attitude has trickled down across the entire company. He explained that this has created a better working environment for everybody involved. He added that AEW is comprised of a bunch of hungry young talent, all of whom are trying to build a future “outside of the WWE.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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