He was the second-string defensive tackle behind eventual National Football League players Tommie Harris and Dusty Dvoracek.

[3][9][10] During his junior year, he was introduced to Jim Ross, who was World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Head of Talent Relations at the time, through former OU defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, Hager's close friend and college roommate.

As a senior in 2006, Hager had a seventh-place finish in the NCAA championships and also defeated the future national champion, Dustin Fox from Northwestern University.

[11] Following his graduation, he was going to work with a firm in Dallas, Texas, but signed with WWE after they offered a contract the day he was scheduled to start.

[22] On September 9, 2008, Hager made his debut on the ECW brand as a heel under the ring name Jack Swagger, winning a match against a local competitor.

[33][34] His undefeated streak in singles competition ended on the February 3 episode of ECW when he lost to Finlay in a non-title match.

[35] After successfully defending his title against Hardy at the Royal Rumble and Finlay at No Way Out, Swagger began a feud with the returning Christian.

On the March 1, 2010, episode of Raw, Swagger defeated Santino Marella to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI,[45] where he won, earning a contract for any WWE world championship over the following year.

[47] Swagger cashed in the contract during the SmackDown taping on April 2, 2010, after then World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho had been speared by Edge.

[55] On the February 28 episode of Raw, Swagger was announced as Michael Cole's trainer for his match at WrestleMania XXVII against Jerry Lawler.

[59] At Extreme Rules, Swagger teamed with Cole to defeat Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross in a Country Whipping match.

[71] At both the Hell in a Cell and Vengeance pay-per-views, Swagger and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Air Boom (Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston) for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

[72][73] On the January 16, 2012, episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger won the United States Championship for the first time by defeating Zack Ryder.

On the March 5 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger lost the United States Championship to Santino Marella, ending his reign at 49 days.

On the April 2 episode of Raw SuperShow, Swagger and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Marella for the United States Championship in a triple threat match.

[78] In May, Swagger and Ziggler unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston and R-Truth for WWE Tag Team Championship, first at Over the Limit and second on the May 28 episode of Raw SuperShow.

[83] Following this loss, Swagger went on a three-month losing streak against the likes of Tyson Kidd, Sheamus, Brodus Clay, and Ryback.

[93] WWE followed by having Swagger and Colter break character during a video to invite Beck to appear on Raw while justifying that the storyline was designed to elicit a crowd response for the protagonist, Alberto Del Rio, and the antagonists, Swagger and Colter, while remaining within a PG rating, unlike several high-rated scripted dramas that use murder and rape in their storylines.

[96][97][98] Swagger was originally booked to face Ziggler and Del Rio in three-way ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules.

On the February 14 episode of SmackDown, Swagger became the #1 Contender for the Intercontinental Championship after winning a Fatal 4-Way match, defeating Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry.

[117] On the June 30 episode of Raw, Swagger turned face for the first time in WWE, after he and Colter would confront Rusev and Lana about them disrespecting America.

[121] At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Swagger would challenge Rusev for the United States Championship, in a losing effort and ending their feud.

[127] As a result of the win, Swagger qualified for the Royal Rumble match itself during the main show; entering as the 24th entrant, only to be quickly eliminated by Brock Lesnar lasting only 16 seconds.

Under the name of "The Savage" Jake Strong, he joined Infamous Inc. with Sammy Guevara and Big Bad Steve, facing the Trios Champions The Mack, Son of Havoc and Killshot.

On October 17, Strong won a 7-man battle royal by last eliminating A. R. Fox and that same night, he defeated Johnny Mundo.

The next week, Strong won a seven-to-seven survive elimination match to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship.

[149] On the February 9, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite, the Inner Circle had a team meeting that ended with Sammy Guevara throwing his vest down and walking out.

The absurd gimmick proved to be popular with fans on social media, leading to Hager to officially adopt it as his persona and tell everyone that he "liked this hat".

[151] At the Thanksgiving Eve special episode on November 23, Hager challenged Orange Cassidy for the AEW All-Atlantic Championship but was defeated.

[152] On the February 21, 2024 episode of Rampage, Hager was defeated by Roderick Strong in what would be his final AEW appearance as on May 28, it was reported that his contract had expired and he had elected not to re-sign.