Jake Hager: Tony Khan Wouldn’t Let Me Become AEW’s Version of Groot

Jake Hager is officially retired from professional wrestling after long runs with WWE and AEW. While looking back on his career, Hager recalled pitching an idea to AEW President Tony Khan where he would essentially become Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy.

During the twilight of Hager's AEW run, his gimmick was wearing a purple bucket hat and defending the style choice regardless of the situation he was in. "I like this hat" became a somewhat popular AEW meme, but Hager wanted to take it one step further by saying nothing but that phrase.

"Chris Jericho is the reason why that purple hat was so over," Hager told Chris Van Vliet. "It was live to the crowd when I first said, 'I like this hat.' And the crowd just popped. Once he heard that pop, that's all he needed to know."

Hager spent part of the interview with Van Vliet shooting on Tony Khan, even saying "Fuck Tony Khan" at one point. The wrestler also shared disappointment for Khan not buying into his Groot idea.

"I feel like the hat could have been way bigger, but [Khan] didn't like me. I pitched an idea, and I think this i great... I wanted to turn into Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy where I would say, 'I like this hat,' and everybody in the Jericho Appreciation Society would know what I'm saying. I'm not saying, 'I like this hat.' I'm not saying, 'I am Groot.' They would just play off of it."

Hager also spoke of his failed contract negotiations with AEW. “My first contract with AEW was up, and after that the negotiation process was very one-way. I could tell that [Khan] didn’t want me there. He offered me a year and a half. I was like, ‘Bro, I just did Stadium Stampede twice. Don’t act like Stadium Stampede didn’t put AEW on the map. I was in the debut episode. I was the big spoiler and you offer me 18 months after all that?’”

Watch the full interview with Jake Hager below.