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Donald Jacob Hager Jr. (born March 24, 1982) is an American retired professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his tenures in WWE as Jack Swagger and in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as Jake Hager. As a mixed martial artist, he was signed to Bellator MMA and competed in the heavyweight division.
Hager attended the University of Oklahoma as a two-sport athlete, participating in both College 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 where he performed as Jack Swagger. During his time with WWE, he became a two-time world champion, having held the WWE's World Heavyweight Championship and the ECW Championship once each and a one-time United States Champion. He left the company in 2017 after he decided to pursue a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
In 2017, Hager signed with Bellator MMA. He had his first professional fight on January 26, 2019, against J.W. Kiser at Bellator 214, where he won via arm-triangle choke in the first round. In his second fight with the promotion, he faced T.J. Jones on May 11, 2019, at Bellator 221, where he again won via arm-triangle choke in the first round. Hager announced his retirement from MMA in September 2023. He was undefeated with a record of 3–0 (1). As a wrestler, he kept working with various promotions before signing with AEW in 2019, including in Lucha Underground as Jake Strong, where he was the final Lucha Underground Champion.
The University of Oklahoma recruited Hager as a two-sport athlete in football and wrestling. He was the Junior varsity defensive tackle behind eventual National Football League players Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek. He stopped playing football and concentrated fully on wrestling his Sophomore year year. During his junior year, he was introduced to Jim Ross, who was WWE (WWE)'s Head of Talent Relations at the time, through former OU defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, Hager's close friend and college roommate. Ross encouraged Hager to contact him after graduating to see about a career in professional wrestling. At the 2005 NCAA Division I championships, he lost to University of Pennsylvania's Matt Feast in the second round, and did not place. As a senior in 2006, Hager had a seventh-place finish in the NCAA championships and also defeated the future national champion, Dustin Fox from Northwestern University. Hager was named an All-American at season's end while setting the Oklahoma record for most pins in a single season with 30.
In 2006, Hager graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor's degree in finance. Following his graduation, he was going to work with a firm in Dallas, Texas, but signed with WWE after they offered a contract the day he was scheduled to start.
He competed mainly in dark matches before being moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in January 2007. He debuted for the promotion by defeating Ricky Ortiz, and in the following months began a feud with Kasey James. Hager began teaming with a multitude of opponents to feud with James and his tag team partner Cassidy James. During his time in the developmental territories he appeared as a security guard during a brawl between John Cena and Umaga on WWE Raw.
In August 2007, Hager was reassigned to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he began a feud with Tyson Kidd. 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 for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship. Hager then defeated DiBiase to become champion. On March 22, 2008, Hager went against the FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion Heath Slater in New Port Richey, Florida to determine the true Heavyweight Champion. Both championships were on the line, and Hager defeated Miller to become the undisputed heavyweight champion in FCW. He later defended the championship against Miller, TJ Wilson, Kasey James, and Tyler Reks.
During this time, Hager had a gimmick of having an undefeated streak in FCW. His first loss came in the form of a WWE Raw dark match, at the TV taping on August 18, 2008, when he lost to William Regal. He also lost to D'Lo Brown in a dark match, before defeating Jamie Noble in a dark match prior to a WWE SmackDown taping on August 29. He then lost the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus on September 18, after debuting for the ECW brand.
He then sought to challenge Matt Hardy for the ECW Championship and was named the #1 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, and retained the title against Hardy in a rematch at the Royal Rumble on January 25. His undefeated streak in singles competition ended on the February 3 episode of ECW when he lost to Dave Finlay in a non-title match. After successfully defending his title against Finlay at No Way Out on February 15, Swagger began a feud with the returning Christian Cage. He lost the ECW Championship to Christian at Backlash on April 26, ending his reign at 104 days. He attempted to regain the title against Christian at Judgment Day on May 17 and in a triple threat hardcore match at Extreme Rules on June 7 also involving Dreamer but was unsuccessful in both attempts. His attempt to win the ECW Championship at The Bash on June 28 in an ECW Championship Scramble also failed.
On the June 29 episode of WWE Raw, Swagger was traded to the Raw brand, making his debut as part of a three-on-one gauntlet match against WWE Championship Randy Orton, in which he got himself purposely counted out in order to make an impression on Orton. On the July 13 episode of Raw, he won his first match on the brand by defeating Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). He then feuded with MVP for several weeks, culminating at SummerSlam on August 23, in a match that MVP won. After his short feud with MVP ended, Swagger began pursuing the United States Championship. He had a title match on the September 21 episode of Raw against Kofi Kingston but lost the match by countout after stealing the championship belt and leaving the arena with it but Kingston later took it back while Swagger was in a physical confrontation with The Miz. Swagger made another unsuccessful attempt at the title at Hell in a Cell on October 4 in a triple threat match against Kingston and The Miz. At the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2010, Swagger entered at number 26 in the Royal Rumble match, but was later eliminated by Kofi Kingston.
On the March 1 episode of Raw, Swagger defeated Santino Marella to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, where he won, earning a contract for any WWE world championship over the following year. On the March 29 episode of Raw, Swagger tried to cash in his Money in the Bank contract against the WWE Champion John Cena, but changed his mind when he realized that Cena was not incapacitated enough to be defeated easily. As the match had never started, Swagger retained the contract for use at a future date.
Swagger cashed in the contract during the April 2 episode of WWE SmackDown, after then World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho had been speared by Edge. Swagger went on to defeat Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time and subsequently joined the SmackDown brand. Following his championship win, Swagger began to develop a more serious persona: previously he had been known for doing Push-up and beating his chest during his ring entrance. He successfully defended the title 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 Extreme Rules on April 25. At Over the Limit on May 23, Swagger retained the title against Big Show by intentionally disqualifying himself. At Fatal 4-Way on June 20, Swagger lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Rey Mysterio in a fatal four-way match also involving CM Punk and Big Show, ending his world championship reign at 79 days. Following the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, Swagger began attacking Mysterio in the lead up to his rematch at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on July 18. He failed to regain the championship, ending their short feud and Swagger's main event status. The match was called one of the best that year.
Swagger later began being accompanied to the ring by his mascot, the Swagger Soaring Eagle, who was portrayed by Chavo Guerrero. At on December 19, Swagger competed in a triple threat ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston and champion Dolph Ziggler, in which Ziggler retained.
Beginning on May 23, Swagger feuded with Matt Sydal, with both men trading victories on several episodes of Raw. At Capitol Punishment on June 19, Bourne defeated Swagger to end the feud. Swagger competed in his second Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on July 17, which Alberto Del Rio won.
On the August 15 episode of Raw, after defeating Alex Riley, Swagger suggested to Vickie Guerrero that she should manage multiple clients, in the vein of managers like Bobby Heenan and Freddie Blassie. The following week, Swagger had a "tryout" match, but was distracted by Guerrero arguing with Dolph Ziggler at ringside, and lost the match. Swagger and Ziggler continued to fight over Guerrero for the next few weeks, which led to a match being for Ziggler's United States Championship at Night of Champions on September 18, also involving Riley and John Morrison. At Night of Champions, Swagger was unsuccessful in winning the title as Ziggler retained. On the September 19 episode of Raw SuperShow, Guerrero agreed to manage Swagger. As a result, Swagger and Ziggler formed an alliance, with Swagger helping Ziggler retain his championship. At both Hell in a Cell on October 2 and Vengeance on October 23, Swagger and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston) for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
On the January 16, 2012, episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger won the United States Championship for the first time by defeating Zack Ryder. At Elimination Chamber on February 19, Swagger successfully defended his title against Justin Gabriel. On the February 27 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Primo & Epico for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple threat tag team match, also involving Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. On the March 5 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger lost the United States Championship to Santino Marella, ending his reign at 49 days. On the following episode of SmackDown, Swagger failed to regain the United States Championship in a steel cage match, after Marella escaped through the cage door. On the March 19 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger was announced as a member of John Laurinaitis at WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1, a match Team Johnny won. On the April 2 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Marella for the United States Championship in a triple threat match. In May, Swagger and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston and R-Truth for WWE Tag Team Championship, first at Over the Limit on May 20 and second on the May 28 episode of Raw SuperShow. On the June 11 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger and Ziggler competed in a fatal four-way elimination match for a number one contenders spot to the World Heavyweight Championship; he was eliminated when Ziggler pinned him. The following week, Guerrero, finally tired of the bickering between Swagger and Ziggler, arranged for a match between them; Ziggler won the match, thus ending their partnership, and also ended his clientele association with Vickie Guerrero.
On the June 25 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger once again unsuccessfully challenged Santino Marella for the United States Championship. Following this loss, Swagger went on a three-month losing streak against the likes of Tyson Kidd, Sheamus, Brodus Clay, and Ryback. After again losing to Sheamus on the September 3 episode of Raw, Swagger told Raw General Manager AJ Lee he would take "extended time off".
Swagger challenged Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 29 on April 7, where he was defeated. Swagger would then feud with both Del Rio and Ziggler over the World Heavyweight Championship, with Swagger defeating Ziggler in a non-title match the following week and Del Rio attacking him afterwards. Swagger was originally booked to face Ziggler and Del Rio in three-way ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules on May 19. Swagger legitimately concussed Ziggler with a kick at a SmackDown taping, stopping that plan. As a result of Ziggler's injury, Swagger instead would be booked to face Del Rio in a number one contender I Quit match at the pay-per-view on May 19, which Del Rio won. In June, Swagger took a leave absence to undergo surgery on his hand, which sidelined him for the remainder of the month.
When Swagger returned, he and Colter were paired with Antonio Cesaro as the tag team The Real Americans. They feuded with Santino Marella and Los Matadores, culminating in a tag team match on October 27 at Hell in a Cell, which Los Matadores won. At Survivor Series on November 24, Swagger teamed with Cesaro, Roman Reigns, Jon Moxley and Seth Rollins in a 5 on 5 traditional Survivor Series tag team match in which their team was victorious. At on December 15, they also challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship again in a losing effort in a fatal four-way match also involving RybAxel and the team of Big Show and Rey Mysterio. On the February 14, 2014 episode of SmackDown, Swagger became the #1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship after winning a Fatal 4-Way match, defeating Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry. Swagger advanced to Elimination Chamber on February 23, where he lost to Intercontinental Champion Big E.
During the pre-show of WrestleMania XXX on April 6, the Real Americans were the final team eliminated during a fatal-four-way match for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Swagger blamed Cesaro for the loss and put Cesaro in the Patriot Lock before Colter demanded that the duo shake hands. Cesaro instead retaliated with a Cesaro Swing on Swagger. Later during the pay-per-view, Cesaro was a surprise entrant in the Wrestlemania XXX, which he won by last eliminating Big Show by body slamming him out of the ring, which mirrored Hulk Hogan's momentous body slam of André. Swagger retaliated by attacking Cesaro on the following Raw and then destroying the trophy, thus ending the stable.
Following his match with Rusev at TLC, Swagger began to appear on television less frequently. At the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2015, Swagger competed in the Royal Rumble match, lasting a while before he was eliminated by Big Show. At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, Swagger participated in the 2nd Annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, in which he was again eliminated by Big Show. Swagger appeared on the November 2 episode of Raw, encountering his former manager Zeb Colter, only to be interrupted by Alberto Del Rio, Colter's new client. This started a feud between the two, which culminated at on December 13 with Swagger challenging Del Rio for the WWE United States Championship in a Chairs match, which Del Rio won. At the 2015 Tribute to the Troops event, Swagger defeated Rusev by submission in a "Boot Camp" match.
On January 24, 2016, at the Royal Rumble, during the kick-off show, Swagger teamed with Mark Henry in a winning effort against the teams of Darren Young and Damien Sandow, The Dudley Boyz and The Ascension. As a result of the win, Swagger qualified for the Royal Rumble match itself during the main show; entering as the 24th entrant, only to be quickly eliminated by Brock Lesnar lasting only 16 seconds. At Roadblock on March 12, Swagger would be defeated by Chris Jericho. At WrestleMania 32 on April 3, Swagger would compete in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which was won by Baron Corbin. On the June 6 episode of Raw, Swagger faced long-time rival Rusev in Swagger's home state of Oklahoma in a losing effort via count-out. After the match, Swagger attacked Rusev before leading the crowd in a "We the People" chant. On the July 4 episode of Raw, Swagger was part of the main-event, where he teamed with "Team USA", which consisted of himself, Big Show, Kane, Apollo Crews, Mark Henry, Zack Ryder and the Dudley Boyz, in a 16-man elimination tag team match, in which their team was victorious over "The Multinational Alliance", which consisted of Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and the Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Hunico).
In the 2016 WWE draft, Swagger was drafted to the Raw brand. On the September 12 episode of Raw, Swagger faced Jinder Mahal in a losing effort. After the match, Tom Phillips revealed to Swagger that his " Raw contract" expired soon, in which Swagger ignored Phillips and walked away. The following night, he switched brands on SmackDown, interrupting Baron Corbin and stating that he has signed exclusively to the brand. Swagger defeated Corbin on the October 4 episode of SmackDown after the referee thought he submitted when he was actually trying to reach the bottom rope. Corbin would then defeat Swagger twice, at the No Mercy pay-per-view on October 9 and again on the October 18 episode of SmackDown, ending the feud, this would be Swagger's last televised match in WWE.
On March 1, 2017, Hager announced on Chael Sonnen's podcast that he had requested his release from WWE. Two days later, WWE issued a statement saying that Hager had not been granted his release. This was in response to Hager already having been announced for an independent date. On March 13, 2017, it was announced that WWE had officially granted Hager his release.
On April 20, 2018, Hager defeated MVP to become the Imperial Wrestling Revolution champion. On November 24, 2018, Hager unsuccessfully challenged Nick Aldis for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleCade: SuperShow
In 2021, Hager would be involved in the Inner Circle's feud with The Pinnacle (MJF, Wardlow, Shawn Spears, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood), with the Inner Circle being defeated by them in the first ever Blood and Guts match at the namesake event in May. The Inner Circle would defeat the Pinnacle in a Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing on May 30, and Hager defeated Pinnacle member Wardlow in an MMA rules-inspired cage match on the June 18 episode of Dynamite. At Full Gear in November, the Inner Circle defeated Men of the Year (Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky) and American Top Team (Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, and Dan Lambert) in a street fight.
On the February 9, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite, the Inner Circle had a team meeting that ended with Sammy Guevara throwing his vest down and walking out. It was later announced that Jericho and Hager would face Santana and Ortiz in a tag team match the following week, with it being billed as the Inner Circle Implodes match. On the March 9 episode of Dynamite, the Inner Circle was disbanded after Hager assisted Jericho in attacking Santana and Ortiz and joined a new stable with Jericho, Daniel Garcia and 2point0 called the Jericho Appreciation Society. Starting with the October 5 episode of Dynamite, Hager began wearing a purple bucket hat that had been rejected by Garcia as a gift from Jericho the week before and not wanting the gift to go to waste. The absurd gimmick proved to be popular with fans on social media, leading to Hager to officially adopt it as his persona and tell everyone that he "liked this hat". This included pictures of Hager wearing the hat everywhere including during wrestling matches. At the Thanksgiving Eve special episode on November 23, Hager challenged Orange Cassidy for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship but was defeated. During his later appearances in AEW, he would be mostly used in lower-card roles, competing mostly on AEW's secondary shows AEW Rampage and AEW Dark throughout 2023 and 2024. He unsuccessfully challenged Wardlow for the TNT Championship on the June 17, 2023 episode of Dynamite. Hager competed in a battle royal on the All Out pre-show on September 3, but was eliminated by Scorpio Sky.
On the February 21, 2024 episode of AEW Rampage, Hager was defeated by Roderick Strong in what would be his final AEW appearance. On May 28, it was reported that his contract had expired and he had elected not to re-sign. After leaving AEW, Hager was critical of AEW president Tony Khan, accusing Khan of being a Communism after claiming that Khan threatened to fire him due to his support of Donald Trump and called Khan "unprofessional" for interrupting a talent meeting. The latter story has been disputed by AEW wrestlers FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood).
On December 3, 2018, it was announced that Hager would be making his debut against J.W. Kiser at Bellator 214. Hager won the fight via submission at 2:09 of the first round.
In Hager's second fight with the promotion, he faced T.J. Jones on May 11, 2019, at Bellator 221. He again won the fight via an arm-triangle choke in the first round. Controversy arose as Hager held on to the choke for several seconds after Jones had tapped. This caused referee Mike Beltran to pull Hager off of Jones amid boos.
For his third fight with the promotion, Hager faced Anthony Garrett at Bellator 231 on October 25, 2019. The bout ended in a no contest early into the first round after Hager landed two unintentional groin strikes to Garrett, the latter one rendering Garrett unable to continue.
Hager faced Brandon Calton at Bellator 250 on October 29, 2020. He won the bout via split decision.
Hager retired from MMA in September 2023.
In March 2019, Hager released the first issue of his biographical comic book series, You Don't Know Jack: The Jake Hager Story, through the publisher of Squared Circle Comics.
In August 2025, Hager revealed that he had founded his own trucking company called Haulin' Oates Trucking.
On February 19, 2013, Hager was arrested in Gulfport, Mississippi, after a WWE SmackDown taping. He was charged with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana. Hager was released from custody after the arrest and was ordered to appear in court on March 12, 2013. He was then scheduled to stand trial on June 25, 2013, in Mississippi. The marijuana charge was dismissed after he was fined $500, and sentenced to six months probation with his two-day jail sentence being suspended.
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