Former WWE World Champion Jack Swagger ‘100 Percent Serious’ About Pursuing MMA
After leaving WWE earlier this year, Jack Swagger has been very open to pursuing other combat sports endeavors in addition to pro wrestling. Although he produced an enviable resume in WWE, winning the World Heavyweight Championship, United States Championship, ECW Championship, and 2010 Money in the Bank briefcase, his career was riddled with inconsistent pushes. This understandably frustrated Swagger, since the proverbial start-and-stop pushes affected his character getting over with the fans the way it could have been.
Swagger’s final big push came during his alliance with Zeb Colter, as they were radical patriots, chanting “We the People” and weeding out those who do not belong in the USA. This gimmick gave Swagger enough momentum to win the Elimination Chamber match in 2013, becoming the No. 1 contender to Alberto Del Rio’s World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 29 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He would lose that match, and WWE would ease up on his single’s push following this event. Despite getting over with the “Real Americans” team along with Cesaro, the duo never won the Tag Team Championships and eventually split.
Jack Swagger vs. Brock Lesnar?
Swagger was recently interviewed on the Pancakes and Powerslams Show, and the topic of competing in an MMA match against Brock Lesnar came up. Here is what he had to say regarding a potential matchup.
“As the Floyd Mayweather/Conor McGregor fight proved, combat sports is at an all-time high in popularity. So, it would make sense for me to accept that fight. Not something to go into lightly, not something to take away from any MMA fighters, because that is the combination of all mixed martial arts, and a lot of disciplines in there. I’m just a good amateur wrestler, but there’s Jiu Jitsu, there’s kickboxing, there’s Muay Thai. There’s so many aspects that you have to be good at to step in that Octagon. So, it wouldn’t be something that I would take lightly, but, at this point in time, yeah, I definitely would [fight Lesnar].”
Swagger ‘100 Percent Serious’ About An MMA Career
This topic came up again in a recent interview with the Wrestling Estate, and Swagger further confirmed his interest in competing by way of mixed martial arts. On whether he would join Bellator, Swagger reaffirmed that combat sports are at an all-time high in popularity and that he is doing different sorts of training to figure out which route is best. He added that he is “100 percent serious” about endeavoring in MMA, because the “reward that could come from it would be astronomical.”
At 35, and over 10 years in the pro wrestling business, Swagger is at a stage where his stock has increased enough from competing in WWE to be able to make a good living on the independent circuit. Moreover, with his newfound interest in competing in MMA, his grappling and strong amateur skills could be what is needed to embark on a successful career.
[Featured Image by WWE]
