Another Star Finishes Up With AEW

After more than four years, this star's time with AEW has come to an end.

by Andrew Pollard
Jake Hager
AEW

After more than four years with the company, Jake Hager's time with AEW has come to an end.

As per Cassidy Haynes of BodySlam.net, Hager's contract recently expired and a mutual decision was made for the talent's AEW run to come to an end. The former Jericho Appreciation Society man had been #AllElite since appearing on the debut episode of AEW Dynamite back in October 2019, where he at that point joined what would become known as the Inner Circle.

During his time with AEW, the one-time Jack Swagger wrestled 62 matches for the promotion, the last of which was a loss to Roderick Strong on Rampage this past February. Hager's AEW spell saw him mainly associated with Chris Jericho, and more recently he'd been somewhat in limbo bar the odd appearance to proclaim how much he likes his hat.

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The news of Jake Hager's AEW exit comes hot on the heels of Mark Henry confirming that he's now finished up with the company, and Arn Anderson announcing how he'll be done with AEW as of 31 May. Elsewhere, Matt Hardy's AEW contract expired last month and he's now operating in TNA as a free agent, while Ethan Page made a surprise appearance on last night's NXT show after he quietly exited AEW earlier in the year.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.