Jake Hager Reveals The Former AEW World Champion That He Most Wanted To Wrestle

Last year, Jake Hager revealed that he had officially hung up his pro wrestling boots after a near 20-year career. And looking back, Hager seems largely content with the wide range of competitors he faced. There is one man that he wishes he could have done more with, though.

"To be honest, no," Hager told "TMZ's Inside The Ring" when asked if there were opponents he was still craving to wrestle prior to his 2017 WWE departure. "I never thought about wrestling like that, wanting to wrestle certain people. It was always what my job is and what's best for the company, bullcrap answer like that. I will say that in AEW I really wanted to wrestle Hangman Page in a storyline just because of the Stadium Stampede scene that we did.

"You won't believe me, but we shot that in one take," he continued. "Like we paused, and then stopped and started filming again, but he is so unbelievably athletic. It was impressive. I got to be like so aggressive because of that. So I always thought down the road that we were going to lead to that and it was going to be great, but never got to it."

The Stadium Stampede in reference took place at AEW Double or Nothing in May 2020, pitting Matt Hardy and The Elite (Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) against The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Ortiz, Sammy Guevara and Santana. Hager's team lost the bout after Omega sent Guevara crashing through a platform with a One-Winged Angel.

Hager left AEW in 2024 following the expiration of his contract. Meanwhile, Page remains a regular fixture in the company, with an AEW World Championship match – attached with a Texas Death stipulation – against MJF awaiting him at tonight's Revolution pay-per-view event.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "TMZ's Inside The Ring" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.