Jack Swagger Says He Once Pitched Shoot Fight To WWE

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Jake Hager (formerly known as Jack Swagger), who recently signed with Bellator MMA, revealed that he once pitched a shoot fight idea to WWE. Here are highlights:

On pitching a shoot fight: “For the longest time there, I felt like I was literally the toughest guy in the locker room. Yet, I would go out there and have two-minute matches with guys that couldn’t hold my jock. It even got to the point where I pitched to them, I was like, ‘Look, I got something to prove. You guys are a great platform. Let me prove it. Pick the fighter — I’ll fight anybody. Put them on your show and I’ll fight them.’ They didn’t really want to go down that route.”

On his pitch to WWE: “Let’s do something different, along those lines. I don’t know if they just didn’t believe in my abilities, but now we’re here to show it. It’s crazy. Stuff like that always happens and it just got pushed to the side and I was like, Alright, well I’m still here. I’m gonna do do it. It’s a great opportunity that I’m gonna take advantage of.”

On trying to contact WWE: “We reached out to the UFC, but in our heads the whole time Bellator was the end run. That’s where we wanted to go. Like I said, they just seem like a company that values its talents and its assets. I think it’s on the rise. You see what Bellator is doing, with the roster that they bring in. Not only at heavyweight, at all weights. It’s really becoming great and tough all the way through. It’s very exciting to be a part of that.”