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Jack Swagger
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 "Jakeass" 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 SmackDown brand, and is the reigning World Heavyweight Champion.[3][5][6]

Hager was recruited to the University of Oklahoma as a two-sport athlete, participating in both football and wrestling. He switched to wrestling full-time in his sophomore year, and in 2006, set the record for most pins in a season with 30 as an All-American. Following a try-out, Hager signed a WWE contract in mid-2006. He made his debut for the WWE developmental territory Deep South Wrestling in September, and was moved to the Ohio Valley Wrestling territory in January 2007. A few months later, Hager debuted for Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he was the final FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion and the inaugural FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion.

In late 2008, he debuted for the ECW brand under the name Jack Swagger, and in January 2009, he won his first world championship, the ECW Championship. In 2010, while a member of the Raw brand, he won the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI, and two days later at the April 2 SmackDown taping he cashed in that opportunity and defeated Chris Jericho to become the World Heavyweight Champion, thus becoming a two-time world champion.

Amateur wrestling 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][7] 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][7] During his junior year, he met Jim Ross, who was then World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Head of Talent Relations, and Ross encouraged Hager to contact him after graduating.[8] In 2006, as an All-American wrestler, he set the single season record for most pins at 30.[7][8]

World Wrestling Entertainment

Developmental territories (2006–2008)

In 2006, Hager had a WWE tryout in Deep South Wrestling (DSW), and in September 2006, Hager made his in-ring debut for DSW defeating Antonio Mestre in a dark match.[2][8] He competed mainly in dark matches, before being moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in January 2007.[9] He debuted for the promotion by defeating Atlas DaBone, and in the following months began a feud with K.C. James.[10][11][12] Hager began teaming with a multitude of opponents to feud with James and his tag team partner Cassidy James.[13][14] During his time in the developmental territories, he appeared on Raw as a security guard, during a brawl between John Cena and Umaga.[7]

In August 2007, Hager was reassigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he began a feud with TJ Wilson.[7][15][16] 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 inaugural FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion. Hager then defeated DiBiase to become champion.[2][7] 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.[17] Both championships were on the line and Hager defeated Miller to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in FCW.[17][18] He went on to defend the championship against Miller, TJ Wilson, James Curtis, and Gabe Tuft.[19][20][21][22]

During this time, Hager had a gimmick of having an undefeated streak in FCW.[2] 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.[23] He also lost to D'Lo Brown in a dark match, before defeating Jamie Noble in a dark match prior to a SmackDown taping on August 29. He went on to lose the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus O'Shaunessy on September 18, after debuting for the ECW brand.[2]

ECW and Raw (2008–2009)

Swagger (standing) during a match against Christian.

On September 9, 2008, Hager made his debut on the ECW brand under the ring name Jack Swagger, winning a match against a jobber—a wrestler who consistently loses to make his opponents look stronger.[24] He quickly established himself as a heel (villainous character) by quickly starting a feud with Tommy Dreamer. He attacked Dreamer on the September 23 episode of ECW, when Dreamer attempted to stop Swagger from attacking jobber Chase Stevens.[25] He later defeated Dreamer in a wrestling match and an "Amateur Wrestling Challenge" competition.[26][27] After weeks of feuding, they would finally end their rivalry in November in an Extreme Rules match, which Swagger won to extend his undefeated streak.[28]

He then set his sights on Matt Hardy's ECW Championship and was named the number one contender on the December 30 episode of ECW. On the January 13, 2009, episode of ECW, Swagger defeated Hardy to win his first title in WWE, the ECW Championship.[29][30] His undefeated streak in singles competition ended on the February 3 episode of ECW when he lost to Finlay in a non-title match.[31] 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][32] After losing the title, he attempted to regain the championship in a triple threat hardcore match at Extreme Rules, but was unsuccessful.[33] Swagger attempted to win the ECW Championship again at The Bash in a ECW Championship Scramble, but he did not succeed.[34]

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.[35] On the July 13 episode of Raw, he won his first match on the brand by defeating Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP).[36] He then feuded with MVP for the next several weeks as the feud ultimately culminated at SummerSlam, in a match that MVP won.[37] 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.[38][39] He was also unsuccessful in winning the championship at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.[40]

World Heavyweight Champion (2010-present)

On the March 1 episode of Raw, Swagger defeated Santino Marella to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI.[41] At WrestleMania, Swagger won the Money in the Bank ladder match, earning a contract for any WWE world championship that he could utilize at any time over the next year.[42] On the following episode of Raw, Swagger tried to cash in his Money in the Bank contract against John Cena, but changed his mind when he realized that Cena was not incapacitated enough for Swagger to easily defeat. As the match had never started, Swagger retained the contract for use at a future date.[43]

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.[6] Swagger went on to defeat Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.[5][6] Following his championship win, Swagger debuted a more serious countenance in contrast to his previous persona, where he was known for doing pushups and beating his chest during his ring entrance.[7] He successfully 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.[44] Swagger will defend the World Heavyweight championship at the inauguration of WWE Fatal 4 Way, a new WWE pay-per-view, in a Fatal 4 Way match against opponents CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, and the Big Show.

Personal life

In 2006, Hager graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor's degree in finance.[8] Following his graduation, he had a job with a firm in Dallas, but was offered a contract with WWE the day he was scheduled to start.[7] Hager is good friends with former wrestler Danny Hodge, and grew up living two blocks away from Hodge in Perry, Oklahoma.[7] Hager has been wrestling since the age of five, and wrestled in high school with Hodge's grandson.[7]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Swagger after winning the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI.

References

  1. ^ a b "#92 Jacob Hager". Sooners Illustrated. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Jack Swagger Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  3. ^ a b c "WWE Bio". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  4. ^ a b c d Baines, Tim (2009-05-16). "Plenty of Swagger in former champ". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  5. ^ a b c 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.
  6. ^ a b c 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.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mooneyham, Mike (2010-05-02). "World champ Swagger climbing WWE ladder". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  8. ^ a b c d Stewart, Brent (2009-01-24). "Critically lauded film, 'The Wrestler,' brings sports entertainment to renewed popularity". TheSouthern.com. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  9. ^ "January 6, 2007–Ohio Valley Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-01-06. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
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  11. ^ "March 28, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-03-28. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  12. ^ "May 2, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-05-02. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  13. ^ "May 9, 2007 – OVW TV Tapings". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  14. ^ "June 1, 2007 – OVW Six Flags". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-06-01. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
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  16. ^ "November 6, 2007 – Florida Championship Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  17. ^ a b c Tanabe, Hisaharu. "FCW Southern Heavyweight Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
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  28. ^ Bishop, Matt (2008-011-25). "ECW: Extreme Rules are back!". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2010-05-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ a b "History of the ECW Championship: Jack Swagger". World Wrestling Entertainment. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  30. ^ "ECW Spoilers from Sioux City featuring Matt Hardy vs. Swagger for the title". The Wrestling Observer. 2009-01-12. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  31. ^ Passero, Mitch (2009-02-03). "Losing His Swagger". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  32. ^ Bishop, Matt (2009-04-27). "Backlash: All 3 world titles change hands". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  33. ^ RaquelSantos, Benedict (2009-06-29). "Dreams come true". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
  34. ^ Elliott, Brian (2009-06-29). "Mysterio & Jericho save The Bash from wash-out". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
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  38. ^ Plummer, Dale (2009-09-21). "Raw: Lillian is Entertained on her last night". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
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