Jake Hager didn’t leave WWE with a guaranteed payday waiting for him. He walked away from contract negotiations, bet on himself, and at one point had to take out a loan against his own house just to keep that gamble alive.
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion has revealed that after turning down a new contract and betting on an MMA career, he found himself in such a desperate financial position that he had to take out a loan against his house just to afford his first fight camp.
Hager opened up about the difficult chapter while appearing on the Advice Unfiltered podcast, explaining that walking away from WWE wasn’t about chasing something new. It was about refusing to accept what he believed he was worth. Instead of signing a deal he wasn’t happy with, he walked away with no guarantees, believing the only way to grow was to force himself into an uncomfortable situation.
“So to me, like if you’re going to fight MMA, you got to have your back against the wall. And that’s exactly where I was. I told WWE no, we were in contract negotiations. I didn’t like the way they were valuing me. And so, like you have to know your own value. Like you have to know what you’re worth. And so I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to leave and I’m going to go do this and make myself more valuable.'”
That confidence didn’t make the bills disappear. Hager said he was piecing together income through independent wrestling bookings while preparing for his MMA debut, but everything changed when an entire month’s worth of dates fell apart. With a two-year-old daughter at home, he suddenly went from planning his future to wondering how he was going to make it through the month. Eventually, the only option left was borrowing against the family home just to keep his dream alive.
“…because like there were so many times where I was like putting my newborn daughter to bed during this. She was two years old in 2017 and I’m like, ‘How am I going to pay the bills?’ Like I had like independent wrestling promotions booking me, but then like I had a whole month cancel and I had to take a loan out on the house in order to pay for that first fight… that first fight camp.”
For Hager, though, those sleepless nights ended up proving exactly why he made the decision in the first place. Looking back now, he says the pressure didn’t break him—it forced him to become the person he needed to be.
“And so, dude, it’s awesome. It really is. You go through that journey and you figure out who you are and like this is the best version of you. Then you could come out of it and you’re smiling and you just feel vindicated. Um, it’s… it’s a lot of fun.”
Years later, Hager can look back at the moment as the turning point that reshaped his career. What started with rejected contract talks, canceled bookings, and a loan against his home eventually led him into a successful MMA run while continuing to make his mark in professional wrestling. Knowing how close he came to losing everything, it’s easy to see why he still believes betting on himself was the right call.
What do you make of Jake Hager’s story? Would you have taken the same risk and walked away from WWE, or was it simply too big of a gamble? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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