10 Wrestlers Who Totally Wasted Their Own Potential
6. Jack Swagger
That Jack Swagger's WWE career wasn't maximised has as much to do with inadequate presentation as anything else, though the new AEW signing rarely looked like a performer with the fire in his belly needed to make it to the top. Too many half-speed matches and dead-eyed promos blight his Stamford résumé. Being arrested for marijuana possession and sentenced so six-months probation in 2013 didn't help either, with his push peaking long before that.
Swagger should have been a beast for Vince McMahon. A big, athletic monster at 6'7"/275lbs and former NCAA Division I All-American, he should've become a killer, but while WWE did tap into his significant amateur wrestling pedigree (particularly early in his run), Swagger is largely remembered as a flop. His name is regularly mentioned when discussion the worst World Champions in company history.
Let's hope that Jake Hager, at 37 years old, finally becomes that killer for AEW. He now has an unblemished mixed martial arts record to stack atop his NCAA credentials and is comfortably the most credible "real athlete" in the promotion, though his success will depend on whether or not he can wash off his old WWE stench.