WWE News: Former WWE Champion Officially Joins Bellator MMA
The latest WWE news reports indicate that a former WWE Champion has now made his way to the world of mixed martial arts. The latest superstar will join the likes of several other former WWE stars who have made that journey including CM Punk, Bobby Lashley, and Batista. Here are details on which of WWE’s former stars has decided to join them in the pursuit of a combat sports career.
According to Fightful, former WWE Champion Jack Swagger, real name Jake Hager, has officially signed with Bellator MMA. This marks his latest stop after departing the WWE as Swagger had been working in the independent wrestling scene. He was also rumored to join WWE’s rival TNA Impact Wrestling/GFW for a bit along with his former WWE manager, Dutch Mantell, aka “Zeb Colter.”
Swagger first entered WWE for his early training in 2006 to work in developmental territories, before heading to ECW. He’d win the ECW Championship there to launch his superstar profile. In 2010, he’d capture the WWE World Heavyweight Championship after a successful Money in the Bank briefcase cash-in. Later in his career, Swagger was also teamed up with Cesaro to form “The Real Americans” for a bit, before participating in individual storylines again in 2014 through 2017. He’d then hit the independent wrestling circuit with teases made that he’d join TNA’s Impact Wrestling (GFW).
There had been previous rumors a few weeks ago that Swagger was contemplating the move to MMA. Now it is official. As mentioned, several WWE superstars have tried their hands in MMA, with CM Punk and Brock Lesnar amongst two former champions who have competed in UFC. Bobby Lashley also competed in Bellator, as did Dave Batista.
Swagger has never officially trained to be in MMA, so he probably took notice of what happened in the young career of CM Punk in the MMA world. Punk left WWE to embark upon his dream to compete in mixed martial arts and signed with UFC. He was showcased in training sessions for weeks ahead of his first official MMA match. However, Punk went on to lose his first fight to Mickey Gall in quick fashion.
Current WWE star Jack Gallagher could be a better example for Swagger to take a look at. As ESPN noted back in July of 2016, the current star of 205 Live and the Cruiserweight division was 2-0 in his amateur MMA record. Gallagher was also said to have trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for eight years, with boxing and kickboxing training as well. He now is known for his wrestling skills during 205 Live, WWE Raw, and various WWE pay-per-view events.
Swagger will be in the Bellator organization and a different MMA weight class. There’s also the fact he was a collegiate wrestler at the University of Oklahoma so he probably has a different perspective going forward but studying up on how other wrestling stars have done can’t hurt.
[Featured Image by WWE]
