Former WWE World Champion Retires From Wrestling (WWE News)
Ex-WWE and AEW star Jake Hager/Jack Swagger has announced his retirement.
Former WWE and AEW star Jake Hager, who was also known as Jack Swagger, has publicly announced his retirement from the pro wrestling biz. Hager has started a trucking company that runs routes in Florida, and he's excited about the future.
Jake told Saraya on her Rulebreakers podcast that he views this new business venture as "something to sink [his] teeth into". He wrestled his last match on an independent show for BZW on 2 November 2024. Before that, Hager's last bout for AEW came vs. Roderick Strong on the 23 February 2024 episode of old 'C' show Rampage.
In addition, Jake had already announced his retirement from MMA back in September 2023.
Fightful reported on Hager's comments from Saraya's podcast. They noted that fans hadn't been hearing a whole heck of a lot from Jake's camp in recent times, especially once his All Elite contract lapsed in May 2024. After that, Hager worked a few selective independent dates, but he seems content to call wrestling something he used to do at this point in his life.
As Swagger, Jake memorably cashed in WWE's Money In The Bank briefcase on Chris Jericho to become brand new World Heavyweight Champion - technically, that cash in happened on 30 March 2010, but the episode of SmackDown didn't air until 2 April. For context, WrestleMania XXVI had already happened on 28 March, so Swagger didn't hold MITB too long.
His run as champ was largely considered a flop, but Swagger stuck around in WWE until 2017. He then hit the indy circuit before landing in AEW and debuting on the first episode of Dynamite.
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