Jake Hager has opened up concerning the difficult personal and financial struggles he faced after his marriage to Catalina White ended, while also looking back on the dangerous decision to go away WWE to pursue MMA.
Hager and White met in WWE developmental, where she wrestled in FCW as Saylor James. They married in December 2010, had two children, and divorced around 2023. Hager said the top of the wedding modified his family life, led to the sale of their million-dollar home, and left him taking the blame for much of what had gone fallacious.
During a recent appearance on the “Advice Unfiltered” podcast, Hager admitted that he drank an excessive amount of and used alcohol to avoid facing the pain of the divorce. While recovery was hard, he eventually learned to acknowledge the harmful decisions and thoughts that had kept him stuck. Exertions and taking responsibility helped Hager move forward relatively than blaming others.
The previous WWE World Heavyweight Champion also admitted that he had been a nasty husband, but told White that he desired to grow to be ex-husband. His biggest concern was protecting their children, and he said each parents have worked to support one another as a substitute of treating the divorce as an ongoing fight. White still helps take care of Hager’s dog when he travels, while Hager praised her for raising their children in the course of the years he was away for WWE work.
Hager also recalled leaving WWE after rejecting a contract offer that he felt didn’t reflect his value. He revealed that, while preparing for his first MMA fight in 2017, a month’s price of indie wrestling bookings was canceled. With a two-year-old daughter at home, Hager took out a loan against his house to pay for his fight camp and called the incident a serious turning point in his profession.