Jake Hager: “I would love to put on a top hat and cane and give you all the jazz hands”
In an interview with Fightful, Jake Hager spoke about how AEW feels about his fights for Bellator, noting that not only do they love it, they especially love it when he wins. Here are highlights:
On getting clearance from AEW: “It’s pretty easy. Right now I’m riding high with Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle. So, really, I just gotta get the storylines approved ahead of time. If not, have like a song or dance routine or something while I’m not there. I thought that was incredible, by the way. Really groundbreaking. But, they love that I fight. Tony (Khan) wants to make sure that I tell everyone that Tony tells me to win.”
On being charismatic in MMA: “I think it always pays to be a character. It pays to be entertaining, to have charisma, to have a certain way that you look or make people feel. It’s always good. As a wrestler that was one of my toughest things to learn getting into the pro wrestling business. You know a guy’s character is bigger than being able to have a five star wrestling match every time. You gotta have a character to really get people invested in you and really care about you. MMA is the same way. Now, you can have a different style of character. You’re not going to bo be quite so over the top ‘cause you do get your shit called out with a right hand and then all of a sudden that character’s gone. But, at the same time, I really enjoy MMA audience ‘cause I’m used to playing to a crowd. So, after that second fight in Chicago and they were all booing me or whatever, it was like the easiest promo I’ve ever cut and it’s probably one of my best ones. I know everyone thinks I can’t talk, but right after a fight you have all the confidence in the world. When the MMA audience is kinda feeling that and you’re like, “Oh, you guys just made a mistake. I’m gonna get you now.” It’s like licking your chops, it’s fun. I don’t mind being the bad guy if that’s what I have to do. But, I’m going to stand out either way.”
On if he has a musical number in him: “Ah, man. I would love to put on a top hat and cane and give you all the jazz hands. I promise you there might be a time. Then I get sued by my good friend Chris Jericho.”
