Chris Jericho and Jake Hager on AEW. (Image Credits: TNT, AEW via Cultaholic)
Chris Jericho talks about the time his friend, Jake Hager, saved him from an assassination attempt in Abu Dhabi
Former WWE stars Chris Jericho and Jake Hager (fka Jack Swagger) enjoy time together on All Elite Wrestling (AEW) now as part of ‘The Inner Circle”.
But they were pretty tight during their WWE run nearly a decade back. Jericho revealed on AEW Dynamite recently about how Jake Hager once saved his life.
Fans were left confused about what he meant. But he has revealed on the Busted Open podcast of an incident dating back 9 years from today in the Middle East involving him and Hager.
Jericho speaks about the time when they were out clubbing in Abu Dhabi and how they got into trouble for getting physical with some guys.
“It’s a true story. While we were in Abu Dhabi, I think in 2012… We were at a club and some guy was being a loud mouth and I suffer fools lightly. So I walk by him and I body checked him into the wall. So I knock the guy down, and he got up and was furious. So later on when we left the club, me and Jake are there, (Mike) Chioda, a couple other cats, Primo and Epico. When we went downstairs he was waiting there with a group of friends. And he said that his dad owned 27% of the country and that he had put a bounty on my head. $7 million bounty, and I’d be dead in 24 hours. I’d be assassinated in 24 hours.”
And this is where the story gets crazier. ‘Y2K’ then said that he went face to face with his assassin and Hager (then Jack Swagger), had his back.
Jericho was then comforted by comments from other people who assured him that he’d be okay. And so he was, with Jericho still going strong in the pro wrestling game.
“Jake was behind me as I went face to face with the assassin who threatened my life, and threatened to give $7 million to anybody who could do that,” Jericho said. “We stood up to the guys, and it was a pretty crazy 24 hours. I was a little bit nervous. Then I decided to stay in that night cause I wanted the 24 hours to go by. But of course I ended up at the club again anyways. And when I went to the club, the bouncer said ‘I see you’re still alive.’ I said ‘yeah. Should I be worried?’ He said ‘that son of a b—h says that all the time. His dad doesn’t own 27% of the country, he owns a gas station down the street! So I was not assassinated but at the time we thought I might, and Jake had my back.”
Getting into a scuffle here and there is quite understandable when you spend your life in the gym and learn a few moves inside the ring, right?
Both Jake Hager and Jericho parted ways with WWE a few years back and are now doing well on AEW, with Jericho’s Inner Circle scheduled to take on The Pinnacle in a Stadium Stampede match. (Credits to WrestlingInc for the transcript).
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