On Saturday night former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger made his MMA debut under his real name, Jake Hager, at Bellator 214.
He faced off against J.W. Kiser and had a strong showing which saw him win by tap out in the first round.
Unlike some former wrestlers who made the switch to MMA, Hager did not shy away from his wrestling past, he embraced it.
R-Truth rapped his entrance music, and he also embraced his “We The People” gimmick which was made popular in WWE.
Hager was asked during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, he was asked if he needed clearance from WWE to use “We The People” at the event, and he explained that the phrase is public domain.
“No permission. We The People is public domain, any American can use that. I wanted to embrace my past. I feel like I was more known as Jack Swagger, so it’s easier to continue that brand, and hopefully—as we’ve discussed in the past—I’ll fight under [the name] Jack Swagger. Even though ‘Jake Hager’ is pretty cool, and I’ve got some big name ideas that would go with that, I ultimately wanted to embrace my professional wrestling past.”
He also added that he feels like professional wrestling made him a better fighter.
“I feel like being in professional wrestling has definitely made me a better MMA fighter. I feel like because I wrestled at WrestleMania and in some of the biggest arenas in the world—Madison Square Garden, Staples Center—I was able to handle Saturday [his first MMA fight] like a pro and go out there cool as the other side of the pillow and take care of business. Why run away from that?”
Are you looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Hager’s MMA career? Sound off in the comments below.
H/T WrestleZone
