He signed with Bellator and made his debut last year at Bellator 214. During that time, he was also appearing in other wrestling promotions such as Lucha Underground, House of Hardcore and 5 Star Wrestling. But the intentions were quite clear. Hager wanted to turn himself into a legitimate fighter and be taken more seriously in the world of professional wrestling.

In a sense, it’s very similar to the path that Brock Lesnar took. Lesnar left WWE in 2004, spent a season with the NFL and then decided to go into MMA. Under the direction of Dana White, Brock Lesnar truly utilized his marketing potential as “The Beast” when he became the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Can the same happen to Jake Hager? It’s possible. Here are 3 reasons why Jake Hager will become AEW’s Brock Lesnar.

#3 Cross-Promotion for Bellator

It makes sense that Bellator would allow Jake Hager to sign with AEW. In fact, during an interview with Ariel Helwani, Hager made it clear it was always his intention to return to professional wrestling. On working in both AEW and Bellator, he said,

Hager is undefeated in Bellator and he’s looking to further his streak when he takes on Anthony Garrett at Bellator 231. Precise to say, Bellator believes that he will keep that streak alive.

#2 AEW has big plans for him

AEW has big plans for Jake Hager. According to a report by Wade Keller of PWTorch, AEW see him as a top star and not a supporting act. He explained:

It makes sense in a way. Hager wouldn’t have signed with AEW to be another mid-level guy. They believe he can be a force to reckon with and was underutilized by WWE. Hager was always a fantastic athlete and perhaps, didn’t get the right creative when he was with the company.

With the Bellator appearances, AEW knows they have a legit MMA fighter in their ranks. It was no different from how Lesnar was used when he came back to WWE. The only difference was that Lesnar was pushed straight away into the main-event scene and his comeback as a legit bada** cemented his aura in professional wrestling. AEW will be hoping to do the same with Jake Hager.

#1 Jake Hager’s background is similar to Brock Lesnar

While it’s quite clear that Jake Hager doesn’t have the same aura that Brock Lesnar had, AEW could be his path to redemption. In a sense, Jake Hager always believed that he should have been better utilized in WWE but that didn’t happen for a variety of reasons. AEW is a way to make up for lost time and Jake Hager is not going to disappoint.

So far, AEW has presented him in the right way. They have not let him speak and just showed him as a silent bodyguard type to Jericho. He even accompanied Jericho to the ring, similar to how Diesel used to accompany Shawn Michaels back in the day. AEW is utilizing several templates at their disposal and it might work in the long term.

While some fans were not excited about Hager coming to AEW, Hager seems to be taking this opportunity. AEW is also ensuring that he continues his Bellator training. Tony Khan made that clear during an interview last week.

So Hager and AEW are both heavily invested in his success. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out in the months to come.

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