In some personnel news, early AEW talents Arn Anderson and Jake Hager reportedly move on from the company.
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For Anderson, a WWE Hall of Famer and a co-founder of the legendary Four Horsemen, he provided the news himself. The Enforcer posted that his AEW contract is set to expire at the end of May. At which point, he will become a free agent as he did not wish to renew. It’s also possible that AEW saw his expiring contract as an opportunity to shave some costs off of a bloated talent budget, but for now, it seems primarily a decision made by Arn. Either way, it takes two to tango. If either side had no further interest in continuing the relationship, it ends. And it did.
It’s interesting timing, for sure. While Arn can’t and won’t wrestle anymore, unlike his former stablemate, he has served as a manager and mentor. And while both were in AEW, he was definitely in the camp of one Cody Rhodes. In recent weeks, there have been whispers that Rhodes could seek out having his own advocate to help watch his back. Most on social media feel, should such a position open up, Arn Anderson would be uniquely qualified to perform it.
That’s not all!
On the other side of things, Jake Hager is also exiting, per the report. Hager, formerly known in WWE as Jack Swagger, was also among the earliest AEW talents we got eyes on. While he has been around for effectively the entire five plus years of AEW, he’s never grown out of his mid-card type role there. I’d imagine that, when he headed to the fledgling promotion in 2019, he figured something he would do while there would top his work alongside Zeb Colter. And here I am, in 2024, telling you that no, nothing he did in AEW bested that work.
Hager’s departure is said to be a mutual decision where neither he nor AEW desired to renew a contractual relationship. That was reported to us by Bodyslam.net. Of course, as we often do (and we did just a couple lines up with Arn), you have to wonder if there could be any interest from WWE. While Hager is an accomplished amateur wrestler as well as mixed martial artist, my answer is-I don’t know. If someone in WWE envisions some crazy talented heel stable filled with wrestlers with a strong amateur background? Bringing in Kurt Angle to manage a group with Gable and Hager and others? I mean, I’ve had crazier ideas, but not sure it would happen. So, what is next for Arn Anderson and Jake Hager?
