10 Things You Didn't Know About Jack Swagger
3. He Broke Kayfabe With Zeb Colter
After a dismal 2012, Swagger's career got a new lease on life in early 2013. WWE decided to capitalize on the controversy surrounding the right-wing "tea party" movement in the U.S. by aligning Swagger with manager Zeb Colter and giving them an anti-immigration gimmick. That thinly-veiled white nationalism put Swagger into a WrestleMania feud with Mexican-born World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio.
The storyline caught the attention of the real-life tea party, particularly human fungus Glenn Beck, who felt that the angle was "demonizing" the tea party.
In response, WWE had Colter and Swagger cut a most unusual promo. After delivering a standard interview, it was revealed that the two men were standing in front of a green screen. After that, Colter revealed that they were no longer "Jack Swagger" and "Zeb Colter," but they were Jake Hager and Wayne Keown - their real names - and were simply participating in a wrestling storyline along with Jose Rodriguez (Del Rio). They went on to brag about WWE's reach and fanbase, impressing nobody.
All in all, it was a weird tactic that accomplished nothing.