Jake Hager Reveals John Cena Refused to Help His Career in WWE

The conversation started after Chris Van Vliet asked him if it was true that Cena refused to help the then-young star. Hager confirmed it was true and explained he wasn’t the only one for that to happen to him. He also spoke about the recent segments between R-Truth and Cena and wondered if it was Cena who got Truth’s job back. He said:

“Oh yeah, he absolutely refused to do it. I was told that was what happened. Because the original plan was I was gonna beat him Monday night on Raw and not do the tease. But I’m a young guy. I’ve been there for a cup of coffee, so what are you gonna do? But I’m not the only guy he’s done that to, he did that throughout his career. I was surprised to see what happened with him and truth lately, because usually he tried to take that glory. But I feel like this time, he’s the one who said we better go with Truth and get him back here.” (h/t: Fightful)

Hager then went under the ring name Jack Swagger and was with WWE from 2006 to 2017. His first match with Cena was on the April 13, 2009, episode of WWE RAW, where Cena, of course, won. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Cena who finished Hager’s one and only WWE Heavyweight Championship run, but WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio.

Jack Swagger’s Win and Loss Record Against John Cena

From looking at Cagematch.net, Cena and Hager had roughly a total of 30 matches, both house shows and televised, and Hager only won two of those matches. A few ended in no-contest, and some were Royal Rumble matches, but still taking that all into consideration, it’s pretty crazy. If you take them out, it could be 25 matches and 2 wins.

His first win over Cena was only because it was a five-on-one handicap match, which was against Cena’s favor. The match, which took place on the March 8, 2010, episode of RAW, included, along with Hager, former WWE Chairman Vincent McMahon, Drew McIntyre, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry, and former WWE Superstar Vladimir Kozlov.

When thinking of other situations where it seemed Cena buried careers (either by accident or on purpose), the first one goes to Nexus and Wade Barrett. Both former WWE Superstars Chris Jericho and Edge have stated in past interviews that Cena was the reason behind Nexus losing at SummerSlam 2010. They reportedly tried to talk him out of the win since both Edge and Jericho were on Cena's team, and they thought it was a better idea for Nexus to win. Though there are stars who have gotten help from Cena, too, like CM Punk, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and former WWE Superstar Dolph Ziggler.