Former AEW star Jake Hager recently tore into AEW President Tony Khan, blaming the billionaire's management style for his decision to retire from professional wrestling.
He wouldn't be the first to criticise Khan's approach to running AEW. However, some have disputed Hager's recollection of certain events and argued that it might be a case of sour grapes, after he wasn't pushed as a main eventer or offered the contract he wanted.
Talking to Conrad Thompson on the latest edition of his podcast, legendary commentator Jim Ross (who recently signed a one-year contract extension with AEW) shared his tale on Hager's comments.
"He’s got a lot of pent-up frustration. Yeah, quite honestly, he’s not a bad person. Jake is not a bad person whatsoever, no, but he’s very frustrated, or was very frustrated," the WWE Hall of Famer said. "Hopefully, he’s got that past him and he’s going to focus more on his creative energy to his trucking company"
"It shows you how much he loved doing what he did because he became a fan. As I said, he wasn’t born a fan, and I find that ironic, considering he and [Danny] Hodge are from the same hometown."
When the "sour grapes" argument was put to him, Ross replied, "I think you’re right. I think he’s frustrated. He didn’t get it all out of the business that he would like to have at the end of the day. Sometimes it doesn’t end the way that one would like for it to. It’s tough to deal with."
"You get frustrated, and it’s just a mind game at that point, because that’s some of which had all the physical tools he needed to be a huge star, an athletic big man. He’s six, five, maybe six, six, I’m not sure...he’s a good dude, and I’m glad he’s doing well, at least. I hope that he’s going to do well," Ross added.
It was during an interview with Chris Van Vliet that Hager said Khan "wasn't a professional," branding him "daddy’s little billionaire" and claiming he used wrestlers like "little playthings."
The former WWE Superstar continued, "We had to wait outside his office. His storylines were very good at debuting, but he could never carry anything through. And then got to the point where I’m carrying on, but it got to the point where couldn’t tell him anything. He couldn’t take criticism."
You can hear more from Ross on these remarks in the player below.