Jake Hager Claims WWE Scrapped The Real Americans Because They Were Getting Too Popular

Claudio Castagnoli - then wrestling as Cesaro in WWE - looked set for a major push following WrestleMania 30. Cesaro won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and he was partnered with Paul Heyman soon after, but The Swiss Cyborg's push would soon come to an end as he transitioned to mostly being a tag team wrestler in WWE.

Leading into WrestleMania 30, Castagnoli was part of Real Americans with Jake Hager (then Jack Swagger) and Dutch Mantel (then Zeb Colter) but the tag team would ultimately split as Swagger turned on Cesaro on the Raw after WrestleMania 30.

Speaking about the split on Dutch Mantel's podcast, Jake Hager claimed WWE decided to split the tag team because Real Americans were becoming too popular.

"They wanted Antonio to be a big star for them even though Vince constantly put his thumb on Claudio by doing stupid stuff. They literally told him not to do the giant swing. This was their way of shooting him to the moon, putting him with Paul Heyman and taking him away from us. It could have been good, I guess, but it was just so overnight and forced that it was going to take time, and they weren't going to give it any time. It's just one of those things where, once again, they didn't know how big We the People were, or how big it was, and they wanted to take it away or they wanted to stop it because we were getting too popular, which they didn't want. They wanted to go with him. He was having five-star matches with all the company guys. He was having amazing matches with you can't see me. It was good. He was hot, but it just wasn't the right move," Hager said.

Both Hager and Castagnoli are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. Hager is a member of the Jericho Appreciation Society and is a popular talent through his love of a purple hat. Castagnoli is the reigning ROH World Champion and a member of the Blackpool Combat Club.

H/T to WrestlingNews.co