| Jake Hager | |
|---|---|
 Hager in 2014 | |
| Birth name | Donald Jacob Hager Jr. |
| Born | (1982-03-24)March 24, 1982 (age 42)[1] Fargo, North Dakota, U.S.[2] |
| Alma mater | University of Oklahoma |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jack Swagger Jake Hager[3] Jake Strong |
| Billed height | 6 ft 7 in (201 cm)[4] |
| Billed weight | 275 lb (125 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Perry, Oklahoma[4] |
| Trained by | Deep South Wrestling[3] |
| Debut | September 7, 2006[3] |
| Mixed martial arts career | |
| Nickname(s) | Rock Hard[5] |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[6] |
| Weight | 254 lb (115 kg; 18 st 2 lb)[6] |
| Division | Heavyweight (206–265 lbs)[7] |
| Reach | 81 in (206 cm) |
| Style | Wrestling |
| Fighting out of | Tampa, Florida, United States |
| Wrestling | NCAADivision IAll-American[8] |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 4 |
| Wins | 3 |
| By submission | 2 |
| By decision | 1 |
| Losses | 0 |
| No contests | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog | |
Donald Jacob "Jake" Hager Jr. (born March 24,1982)[3] is anAmericanprofessional wrestler and formermixed martial artist. He most recently wrestled forAll Elite Wrestling (AEW).[9] Hager has previously worked forWWE under the ring nameJack Swagger andLucha Underground asJake Strong.
During his time with WWE, he won theWorld Heavyweight Championship, theUnited States Championship and theECW Championship once each, as well as theMoney in the Bank ladder match atWrestleMania XXVI in 2010. He was the last holder of the Lucha Underground Championship and the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship .
Hager was recruited to theUniversity of Oklahoma as a two-sport athlete, playing as adefensive tackle infootball and a heavyweightwrestler.[3] During his junior year, he metJim Ross, who was thenWorld Wrestling Entertainment's Head of Talent Relations, and Ross encouraged Hager to contact him after graduating.[10] In 2006, as anAll-American wrestler, he set the single season record for most pins at 30, and graduated from theUniversity of Oklahoma with a Bachelor's Degree in Finance.[10]
In 2006, Hager had a WWE tryout inDeep South Wrestling, and in September 2006, Hager made his in-ring debut for Deep South Wrestling defeating Antonio Mestre in adark match.[3][10] He competed mainly in dark matches, before being moved toOhio Valley Wrestling in January 2007.[11] He started for OVW, by defeatingAtlas DaBone, and in the following months began a rivalry withK.C. James[12][13][14] Hager began teaming with a multitude of opponents to feud with James and his tag team partnerCassidy James.[15][16]
In August 2007, Hager went back toFlorida Championship Wrestling, where he began a rivalry withTJ Wilson.[3][17][18] On February 15, 2008, Hager defeatedTed DiBiase, Jr. inTampa, Florida at the Florida State Fair to become the first-ever FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion.[19] Earlier in the night, DiBiase and Hager were the final two men remaining in a 23-manbattle royal to determine the two championship contenders.[20]
On March 22, 2008, Hager went against the FCW Southern Heavyweight ChampionHeath Miller, inNew Port Richey, Florida, to determine the true Heavyweight Champion.[21] Both titles were on the line and Hager defeated Miller to become the undisputed heavyweight champion inFlorida Championship Wrestling.[19][21]
His first loss came in the form of aRaw dark match, at the TV taping on August 18, 2008 when he lost toWilliam Regal.[22]
On September 9, 2008, Hager made his start on theECW brand under the ring name Jack Swagger, winning a match against a local wrestler.[23] 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 withTommy Dreamer by attacking him after Dreamer had savedChase Stevens fromMike Knox.[24] He later defeated Dreamer in a wrestling match[25] and an "All American Challenge" competition.[26] After weeks of fighting, the two ended their rivalry in an Extreme Rules match, which Swagger won to extend his undefeated streak.[27] He then set his sights onMatt Hardy'sECW Championship, and was named the number one contender on the December 30, 2008 edition ofECW.[28] On the January 13, 2009 episode ofECW, Swagger defeated Hardy to win the ECW Championship, which is his first title in WWE.[29] His undefeated streak in singles matches ended on the February 3 episode ofECW, when he lost toFinlay.
On the March 1 episode ofRaw, Swagger beatSantino Marella to wrestle in theMoney in the Bank ladder match atWrestleMania XXVI.[30] 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.[31] On the episode ofRaw 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.[32]
Swagger cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during theSmackDown taping on March 30, 2010, after theWorld Heavyweight ChampionChris Jericho had beenspeared byEdge.[33] Swagger went on to defeat Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.[33][34] after his championship win, Swagger changed into a more serious Swagger which was different from his last persona, where he was known for doingpushups and beating his chest during his ring entrance. He defended his championship against Edge and Jericho in a triple threat match on the April 16 episode ofSmackDown, and against Randy Orton in anExtreme Rules match at theExtreme Rules pay-per-view.[35] AtOver the Limit, Swagger kept the title againstThe Big Show by disqualifying himself.[36] At theFatal 4-Way pay-per-view on June 20, he lost the championship toRey Mysterio in afatal four-way match, which also hadCM Punk and The Big Show.[37]
1:00 onwards, Swagger says, "I was born in 82 at Fargo Hospital..."
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