Nearly 10 years after their run as The Real Americans ended in WWE, former tag team partners Claudio Castagnoli and Jake Hager still haven’t buried the hatchet.
The former associates of Dutch Mantel (Zeb Colter) had a verbal confrontation backstage on tonight’s Dynamite episode, where their history was referenced by Tony Schiavone.
The segment began with Schiavone noting that the two men “know each other very well” and signed a “no physicality” waiver before agreeing to the face-to-face meeting – a week after they went to war for opposing teams in the “Blood & Guts” match.
“There’s no physicality here, Tony,” Hager began. “The 16,000 people who cheered for him at Forbidden Door might think he [Claudio] is tough, but deep down inside he knows he’s not as tough as I am.”
Hager would then reference Castagnoli’s accomplishments, or lack thereof, in WWE, while bringing up his own reigns as a top champion as Jack Swagger.
“He knows he’s not a world champion like I am,” Hager said. “He’s never been a world champion in Ring of Honor, he’s never been a world champion in WWE, and you’re not gonna be a world champion here in AEW. I am an undefeated MMA fighter, and it’s about time that I get my respect.”
In response, Castagnoli would point out how he’s off to a winning start in AEW, defeating Zack Sabre Jr. in his debut before helping the Blackpool Combat Club defeat Jericho Appreciation Society in “Blood & Guts” last week.
“You may be an undefeated MMA fighter, but I’m undefeated here in AEW, where the rankings matter,” Claudio said to Hager. “And next week, I’m gonna go 3-0.”
AEW confirmed later that Hager vs. Castagnoli will take place at next week’s “AEW Dynamite: Fighter Fest” special episode.
