Jake Hager

American professional wrestler and mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter

Jacob "Jake" Hager[1] (born March 24, 1982)[1] is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Hager has previously worked for the WWE and Lucha Underground. (as Jake Strong)

Jake Hager
Swagger at WrestleMania XXX week on April 4, 2014
Born (1982-03-24) March 24, 1982 (age 42)[1]
Perry, Oklahoma[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Jake Hager[1]
Jack Swagger[1]
Billed height200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Billed weight260 lb (120 kg)[2]
Billed fromOklahoma City, Oklahoma
Trained byDSW staff[1]
OVW staff
FCW staff
DebutSeptember 7, 2006[1]

Career change

Early career change

Hager was recruited to the University of Oklahoma as a two-sport athlete, playing as a defensive tackle in football and a heavyweight wrestler.[1] During his junior year, he met Jim Ross, who was then World Wrestling Entertainment's Head of Talent Relations, and Ross encouraged Hager to contact him after graduating.[3] In 2006, as an All-American wrestler, he set the single season record for most pins at 30, and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor's Degree in Finance.[3]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-2019) change

Developmental territories (2006-2008) change

In 2006, Hager had a WWE tryout in Deep South Wrestling, and in September 2006, Hager made his in-ring debut for Deep South Wrestling defeating Antonio Mestre in a dark match.[1][3] He competed mainly in dark matches, before being moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling in January 2007.[4] He started for OVW, by defeating Atlas DaBone, and in the following months began a rivalry with K.C. James[5][6][7] Hager began teaming with a multitude of opponents to feud with James and his tag team partner Cassidy James.[8][9]

In August 2007, Hager went back to Florida Championship Wrestling, where he began a rivalry with TJ Wilson.[1][10][11] On February 15, 2008, Hager defeated Ted DiBiase, Jr. in Tampa, Florida at the Florida State Fair to become the first-ever FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion.[12] Earlier in the night, DiBiase and Hager were the final two men remaining in a 23-man battle royal to determine the two championship contenders.[13]

On March 22, 2008, Hager went against the FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion Heath Miller, in New Port Richey, Florida, to determine the true Heavyweight Champion.[14] Both titles were on the line and Hager defeated Miller to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in Florida Championship Wrestling.[12][14]

His first loss came in the form of a Raw dark match, at the TV taping on August 18, 2008 when he lost to William Regal.[15]

ECW brand (2008-2009) change

On September 9, 2008, Hager made his start on the ECW brand under the ring name Jack Swagger, winning a match against a local wrestler.[16] He quickly made himself a villain when he did not let the referee hold up his arm after the win, and later started a rivalry with Tommy Dreamer by attacking him after Dreamer had saved Chase Stevens from Mike Knox.[17] He later defeated Dreamer in a wrestling match[18] and an "All American Challenge" competition.[19] After weeks of fighting, the two ended their rivalry in an Extreme Rules match, which Swagger won to extend his undefeated streak.[20] He then set his sights on Matt Hardy's ECW Championship, and was named the number one contender on the December 30, 2008 edition of ECW.[21] On the January 13, 2009 episode of ECW, Swagger defeated Hardy to win the ECW Championship, which is his first title in WWE.[22] His undefeated streak in singles matches ended on the February 3 episode of ECW, when he lost to Finlay.

World Heavyweight Championship run and Smackdown (2010) change

On the March 1 episode of Raw, Swagger beat Santino Marella to wrestle in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI.[23] At WrestleMania, Swagger won the Money in the Bank ladder match, winning a contract for any WWE world championship that he could use at any time over the next year.[24] On the episode of Raw after WrestleMania, Swagger tried to cash in his Money in the Bank contract on John Cena, but changed his mind when he saw that Cena was not hurt enough for Swagger to beat. As the match had never started, Swagger kept the contract for use at a future date.[25]

Swagger cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during the SmackDown taping on March 30, 2010, after the World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho had been speared by Edge.[26] Swagger went on to defeat Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.[26][27] after his championship win, Swagger changed into a more serious Swagger which was different from his last persona, where he was known for doing pushups and beating his chest during his ring entrance.[28] He defended his championship against Edge and Jericho in a triple threat match on the April 16 episode of SmackDown, and against Randy Orton in an Extreme Rules match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.[29] At Over the Limit, Swagger kept the title against The Big Show by disqualifying himself.[30] At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view on June 20, he lost the championship to Rey Mysterio in a fatal four-way match, which also had CM Punk and The Big Show.[31]

In wrestling change

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • As Jack Swagger
  • As Jake Hager
  • Nicknames
  • "The All–American American"[32]
  • Entrance themes
  • 2 Z's Top by Firstcom music (September–October 2008)
  • Get On Your Knees[35] by Age Against The Machine[36] (November 2008–present)

Championships and accomplishments change

References change

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Jake Hager Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2008-01-12. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  2. "WWE Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stewart, Brent (2009-01-24). "Critically lauded film, 'The Wrestler,' brings sports entertainment to renewed popularity". TheSouthern.com. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  4. "January 6, 2007–Ohio Valley Wrestling". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  5. "March 21, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  6. "March 28, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  7. "May 2, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-05-02. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  8. "May 9, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  9. "June 1, 2007 – OVW Six Flags". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  10. "October 30, 2007 – Florida Championship Wrestling". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  11. "November 6, 2007 – Florida Championship Wrestling". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Oliver, Earl; Fenwick, Adam and Soto, Gonzalo. "FCW Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 2008-10-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. 13.0 13.1 Wojcik, Alan. "2/15 Results From Florida Championship Wrestling Invasion of the State Fair". Gerweck.net. Retrieved 2008-02-16.[permanent dead link]
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Tanabe, Hisaharu. "FCW Southern Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  15. Martin, Adam (2008-08-19). "Live report from 'Monday Night Raw' taping in Chicago, IL (Punk, more)". WrestleView. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  16. Medalis, Kara A. (2008-09-09). "Fateful reunion". WWE. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  17. Burdick, Michael (2008-09-23). "Leggo my ego". WWE. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  18. Passero, Mitch (2008-10-28). "California dreamin'?". WWE. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  19. Burdick, Michael (2008-11-18). "Survivor showdown". WWE. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  20. Passero, Mitch (2008-11-25). "Something to prove". WWE. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  21. Mitch Passero (2008-12-30). "Slamming shut 2008". WWE. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 "ECW Spoilers from Sioux City featuring Matt Hardy vs. Swagger for the title". The Wrestling Observer. 2009-01-12. Archived from the original on 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  23. Plummer, Dale (2010-03-01). "RAW: A bad trip on the Road to Wrestlemania". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  24. Martin, Adam (2010-03-28). "Wrestlemania 26 Results – 3/28/10". WrestleView. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  25. Plummer, Dale (2010-03-30). "RAW: HBK says farewell to the WWE Universe". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2010-03-30.
  26. 26.0 26.1 Caldwell, James (2010-03-30). "WWE News: Major SPOILER at tonight's Smackdown TV taping for Friday's show". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
  27. McKinley, Shane (2010-03-31). "Absurdity Of It All: Pros & Cons of Smackdown Spoiler, NXT To Start Plugging ICOPRO, Knife Fight Imminent Between The Pope and Wolfe". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  28. Mooneyham, Mike (2010-05-02). "World champ Swagger climbing WWE ladder". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  29. Kapur, Bob (2010-04-25). "WWE Extreme Rules features strong Mania rematches". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  30. Bishop, Matt (2010-05-23). "Batista quits to end disappointing Over The Limit". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  31. Caldwell, James (2010-06-20). "WWE News: Fatal Four-Way PPV News & Notes – three new champions, bonus matches, Vince McMahon appearance". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-06-21.
  32. 32.0 32.1 Medalis, Kara A. (2008-09-16). "Luck runs out". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  33. DiLiegro, Phil (2008-09-09). "Phil DiLiegro's ECW TV report for September 9". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on 2008-09-24. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  34. DiLiegro, Phil (2008-09-16). "ECW TV report by Phil DiLiegro". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  35. "WWE: The Music Vol 9 CD". wweshop.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  36. Age Against the Machine's Myspace page[permanent dead link]

Other websites change