10 Wrestling Characters Which Just Aren’t Working Right Now
6. Jake Hager
Current Character: Legitimate MMA Speed Bump
Things were looking good for the former Jack Swagger turned Jake Hager in AEW. The company had presented him as a legitimate MMA killer and his presence was definitely felt whenever Chris Jericho's Inner Circle made their way to the ring.
He toppled wrestling veteran Dustin Rhodes at Revolution and was still undefeated in the company coming into his AEW World Championship No Holds Barred match with Jon Moxley on the April 15, 2020, episode of Dynamite.
Then the wheels completely fell off as Hager went from feeling like a force of nature to Swagger-without-the-singlet all in a matter of minutes during his first AEW world title shot.
Legit MMA badass is a tough sell after being exposed in such a way...so now what?
Future Character: Silent Strangler
This one may just be a plain and simple case of rebuilding the aura which Hager had established since appearing on the inaugural episode of Dynamite.
It won't be an overnight fix and may take many months to firmly cement him as a credible threat once again, but if AEW stick with him and convincingly portray Hager as a silent strangler capable of choking you out from anywhere in the ring in minutes there may be hope for the real-life MMA fighter yet.