7 Times WWE Blew It With Jack Swagger

5. The Real Americans

Jack Swagger
WWE.com

Returning from surgery in 2013, Swagger re-aligned with manager Zeb Colter and his new charge Cesaro, forming a 'Real Americans' tag unit that would become a hit in a watered-down tag division.

The duo got over fast, which naturally meant eating plenty of losses in efforts to aid other flagging units.

Continuing unabated, the tandem gradually became indispensable amongst fluffier crews The Usos, Los Matadores and a comedy pairing of Santino Marella and The Great Khali.

Consequently, the pair were given high profile pay-per-view opportunities, including a notable Battleground pay-per-view win over Khali and Marella that saw Cesaro hit the 'Punjabi Playboy' with his giant swing, and a Survivor Series coming together with The Shield for victory over a Rey Mysterio-led group of The Usos and The Rhodes Family.

As momentum built for a Cesaro babyface turn, the team began the head towards their split, but the weak implosion would irrecoverably damage both Swagger and Colter, and do little for 'The Swiss Superman'.

Coming apart during the WrestleMania 30 pre-show after defeat in a tag title match, Swagger suffered the indignity of a Cesaro swing and abandonment by Zeb.

However, with Cesaro leaving Zeb for Paul Heyman the following night, the group was completely dissolved, with zero satisfactory follow-up programme left in the offing.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett