7 Times WWE Blew It With Jack Swagger

3. ECW Champion

Jack Swagger
WWE.com

Arguably the highlight of his entire WWE career, Swagger's ECW Title victory came during a quietly enjoyable spell for the much-maligned C-show, with victory over Matt Hardy for the championship representing real elevation for the 'All American American'.

Swagger was the best talent to emerge from the show's constant stream of average athletes that would randomly appear week after week, and through an undefeated streak, a feud with the show's stalwart Tommy Dreamer, and a legitimately irritating character, Jack was a hit.

Soaring above the other developmental prospects bleeding onto the show, Swagger looked like he belonged as champion, but when his undefeated streak was recklessly abandoned in non-title defeat to Finlay a month after he won the title, his arrogance lost its sparkle somewhat.

That said, he did manage to hold on to the title for over 100 days, until April's Backlash where recent company returnee Christian took his rightful spot atop the brand.

Running before he could walk, Swagger was traded to Monday Night Raw, but was unable to find traction from the off as he had done in ECW's smaller pond.

It was rash follow-up for the young character, and undermined months of great work the company and Swagger himself had done since his debut.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 almost 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 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL 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