Jake Hager's Next Career Move Will NOT Surprise You At All... (AEW News)

Jack Hager signs six-fight deal with Power Slap.

by Andrew Pollard
Jake Hager
AEW

Having announced his pro wrestling retirement in August of last year, former AEW and WWE man Jake Hager has announced his next career move.

Speaking to TMZ, Hager revealed that he's due to compete for Power Slap, the Dana White-led organisation where two opponents take turns slapping each other in the face until only one is left standing. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion has signed a six-fight deal with Power Slap, and he'll make his debut at the company's April 17th event, Power Slap 19.

As alluded to, the 43-year-old brought an end to a 19-year pro wrestling career last year; a career that featured 11 years under the WWE banner as Jack Swagger, brief spells in Lucha Underground and MLW, and then five years with AEW. Away from the squared circle, Hager was a record-setting amateur wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, and he had four MMA fights for Bellator in 2019 and into 2020.

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For those not too familiar with Power Slap, it was founded in 2022 and formally launched in early 2023. Each match-up starts with a coin toss to decide which competitor goes first, and there is a 60-second time limit for an open-handed slap to take place, with slaps having to land between the eyes and chin. Unsurprisingly, Power Slap has received plentiful criticism from, amongst others, medical professionals and neurologists.

Juggalo Championship Wrestling Women's Champion Hollywood Haley J made waves over the weekend for getting knocked out in brutal fashion by Ellie Dempster at Power Shalp 15.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.