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Jake Hager

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Jake Hager
Born (1982-03-24) March 24, 1982 (age 42)[1]
Perry, Oklahoma[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Jack Swagger[2]
Jake Hager[2]
Billed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[3]
Billed weight263 lb (119 kg)[3]
Billed fromPerry, Oklahoma
Trained byDeep South Wrestling[2]
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Florida Championship Wrestling
DebutSeptember 7, 2006[2]

Jacob "Jake" Hager[4] (born March 24, 1982)[1] is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, where he works under the name Jack Swagger on the RAW brand.[3]

Before debuting on the ECW brand, Hager worked in the WWE developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, where he was the final Southern Heavyweight Champion and the inaugural Florida Heavyweight Champion.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Hager was recruited to the University of Oklahoma as a two-sport athlete. Hager played football, and was the second string defensive tackle behind current National Football League players, Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek.[4] Due to his high-school wrestling background, he was asked to join the wrestling team in his sophomore year as a heavyweight, and switched over full-time.[2][4] 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.[5] 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.[5]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–present)

Developmental territories (2006–2008)

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.[2][5] He competed mainly in dark matches, before being moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling in January 2007.[6] He debuted for by defeating Atlas DaBone, and in the following months began a feud with K.C. James.[7][8][9] Hager began teaming with a multitude of opponents to feud with James and his tag team partner Cassidy James.[10][11]

In August 2007, Hager was reassigned to Florida Championship Wrestling, where he began a feud with TJ Wilson.[2][12][13] On February 15, 2008, at the Florida State Fair in Tampa, Florida, Hager and Ted DiBiase, Jr. were the final two men remaining in a 23-man battle royal to determine the two contenders to become the first-ever FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion. Hager then defeated DiBiase to become champion.[14]

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.[15] Both titles were on the line and Hager defeated Miller to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in Florida Championship Wrestling.[14][15]

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.[16]

ECW (2008–2009)

On September 9, 2008, Hager made his debut on the ECW brand under the ring name Jack Swagger, winning a match against a local competitor.[17] He quickly established himself as a villain when he didn't let the referee hold up his arm after the win and later started a feud with ECW Original Tommy Dreamer by attacking him after Dreamer had saved Chase Stevens from Mike Knox.[18] He later defeated Dreamer in a wrestling match[19] and an "All American Challenge" competition.[20] After weeks of feuding, they would finally end their rivalry in an Extreme Rules match, which Swagger won to extend his undefeated streak.[21]

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. On the January 13, 2009, episode of ECW, Swagger defeated Hardy to win his first title in WWE, the ECW Championship.[22] His undefeated streak in singles competition ended on the February 3 episode of ECW when he lost to Finlay in a non-title match.[23] After successfully defending his title against Hardy at the Royal Rumble and Finlay at No Way Out, Swagger began a feud with the returning Christian, to whom he lost the ECW Championship at Backlash, ending his reign as champion at 104 days.[4][24] After losing the title, he attempted to regain the championship in a triple threat hardcore match at Extreme Rules, but was unsuccessful.[25] Swagger attempted to win the ECW Championship again at The Bash in a ECW Championship Scramble, however, he did not succeed.[26]

Raw and Money in the Bank (2009–present)

On June 29, 2009, Swagger was traded to the Raw brand, making his debut as part of a three-on-one gauntlet match against WWE Champion Randy Orton, in which he got himself purposely counted out in order to make an impression on Orton.[27] On the July 13 episode of Raw, he won his first match on the brand by defeating Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP).[28] He then feuded with MVP for the next several weeks as the feud ultimately culminated at SummerSlam, in a match that MVP would win. After his short feud with MVP ended, Swagger began pursuing the WWE United States Championship. He had his first singles match for the championship on September 21 against Kofi Kingston, but lost the match by countout after stealing the championship and leaving the arena with it, although Kingston later stole it back while Swagger had a match against The Miz.[29][30] He was also unsuccessful in winning the championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.[31]

On the March 1, 2010 episode of RAW, Swagger defeated Santino Marella to qualify for the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania XXVI.[32] At WrestleMania, Swagger won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, earning a contract for any world championship at any time over the next year.[33] On the following episode of Raw, Swagger tried to cash in his contract against John Cena for the WWE Championship, but changed his mind when he realized that Cena was not incapacitated enough for Swagger to easily defeat.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Notes

  1. ^ a b "#92 Jacob Hager". Sooners Illustrated. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Jack Swagger Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  3. ^ a b c "WWE Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Baines, Tim (2009-05-16). "Plenty of Swagger in former champ". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  5. ^ a b c Stewart, Brent (2009-01-24). "Critically lauded film, 'The Wrestler,' brings sports entertainment to renewed popularity". TheSouthern.com. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  6. ^ "January 6, 2007–Ohio Valley Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  7. ^ "March 21, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  8. ^ "March 28, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  9. ^ "May 2, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-05-02. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  10. ^ "May 9, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  11. ^ "June 1, 2007 – OVW Six Flags". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  12. ^ "October 30, 2007 – Florida Championship Wrestling". Online World Of Wrestling. 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  13. ^ "November 6, 2007 – Florida Championship Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  14. ^ a b c Oliver, Earl. "FCW Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 2008-10-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ a b c Tanabe, Hisaharu. "FCW Southern Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  16. ^ Martin, Adam (2008-08-19). "Live report from 'Monday Night Raw' taping in Chicago, IL (Punk, more)". WrestleView. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  17. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (2008-09-09). "Fateful reunion". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  18. ^ Burdick, Michael (2008-09-23). "Leggo my ego". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  19. ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-10-28). "California dreamin'?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  20. ^ Burdick, Michael (2008-11-18). "Survivor showdown". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  21. ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-11-25). "Something to prove". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference ECWTitle-WrestlingObserver was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Passero, Mitch (2009-02-03). "Losing His Swagger". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  24. ^ Rote, Andrew (2009-04-26). "Now Christian has a swagger". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-04-26.
  25. ^ RaquelSantos, Benedict (2009-06-29). "Dreams come true". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
  26. ^ Elliott, Brian (2009-06-29). "Mysterio & Jericho save The Bash from wash-out". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  27. ^ Plummer, Dale (2009-06-30). "Raw: Dubious guest host makes Orton run "The Gauntlet"". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  28. ^ Plumer, Dale (2009-07-13). "RAW: Orton sees Green". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  29. ^ Plummer, Dale (2009-09-21). "Raw: Lillian is Entertained on her last night". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  30. ^ Elliott, Brian (2009-09-29). "Raw: Orton a weak challenger going into Hell in a Cell". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
  31. ^ Sokol, Chris (2009-10-05). "Title changes highlight Hell in a Cell". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-10-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ Plummer, Dale (2010-03-01). "RAW: A bad trip on the Road to Wrestlemania". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
  33. ^ Martin, Adam (2010-03-28). "Wrestlemania 26 Results - 3/28/10". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  34. ^ a b c d e Caldwell, James (2009-07-27). "Caldwell's WWE Raw Report 7/27: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Shaq hosting Raw". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  35. ^ Omansky, Mike (2009-08-02). "8/2 WWE in White Plains, N.Y.: John Cena & Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton & Legacy, Jack Swagger vs. MVP, Miz vs. Santino". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  36. ^ a b Medalis, Kara A. (2008-09-16). "Luck runs out". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  37. ^ "ECW TV report". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  38. ^ DiLiegro, Phil (2008-09-09). "Phil DiLiegro's ECW TV report for September 9". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
  39. ^ Martin, Todd (2009-05-04). "Raw is SummerFest TV report". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  40. ^ DiLiegro, Phil (2008-09-60). "ECW TV report by Phil DiLiegro". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Retrieved 2008-10-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ "WWE: The Music Vol 9 CD". wweshop.com. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  42. ^ Age Against the Machine's Myspace page
  43. ^ Clark, Ryan (2009-09-05). "Full 'PWI 500' For 2009". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  44. ^ "ECW Championship history".
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