Jake Hager Signs with Power Slap: Former WWE Champion's New Career
Jake Hager -- known to millions of WWE fans as Jack Swagger, the All-American American who held the World Heavyweight Championship -- has signed with Power Slap, Dana White's open-palm striking competition. The signing represents the latest chapter in Hager's post-wrestling combat sports career, which has already included a stint in Bellator MMA where he compiled an undefeated professional record. Now the 6'5", 265-pound former collegiate wrestler is bringing his size, toughness, and name recognition to the world of competitive slap fighting.
Why Power Slap?
The Athletic Profile
Hager's physical attributes make him a natural fit for Power Slap's super heavyweight division. At 6'5" and approximately 265 pounds, he has the frame to absorb punishing slaps and the upper body mass to deliver them with significant force. His background as a Division I wrestler at the University of Oklahoma gave him the neck strength and physical conditioning that translate to slap fighting's unique demands -- particularly the ability to brace for impact and recover from strikes.
His MMA career, while limited in opponent quality, demonstrated that Hager can compete in legitimate combat sports. His undefeated Bellator record included both knockouts and submissions, showing offensive capability across formats. Power Slap's standing format -- where fighters alternate open-palm strikes without defensive movement -- is different from anything Hager has done before, but his physical gifts and competitive mentality make him a serious competitor.
The Business Logic
For Power Slap, the Hager signing is a marketing play. The promotion needs recognizable names to attract viewers who are not already part of the slap fighting audience, and Hager brings recognition from both the WWE and MMA worlds. His Jack Swagger character was a main event-level performer in WWE, and his name carries weight with the professional wrestling fanbase -- one of the largest and most engaged audiences in entertainment.
For Hager, the signing provides a competitive outlet and a paycheck. The former wrestler has been transparent about his desire to continue competing in combat sports, and Power Slap offers a format that is less physically demanding than MMA while still providing the adrenaline and competitive satisfaction that Hager craves.
The Crossover Trend
Hager's signing is part of a broader trend of combat sports athletes and entertainment figures crossing into alternative fighting formats. The trend includes:
- Former MMA fighters moving to bare knuckle boxing (BKFC has built much of its roster on UFC veterans)
- Professional wrestlers competing in MMA, bare knuckle, and now slap fighting
- YouTube and social media personalities entering boxing and slap fighting for content
- Traditional boxers exploring bare knuckle formats
The common thread is that alternative combat sports formats offer opportunities -- both competitive and financial -- that the established promotions do not. Power Slap, in particular, provides a platform for athletes whose physical prime has passed in their original sports but who still possess the size, toughness, and name recognition to draw audiences.
What to Expect
Hager's Debut
Hager's Power Slap debut is expected in the coming months, likely on a U.S. event before the promotion's Saudi Arabia expansion. The promotion will likely position him as a headliner immediately -- his name value justifies main event placement regardless of his slap fighting experience.
The question is whether Hager's physical gifts translate to the specific demands of slap fighting. Size and toughness are necessary but not sufficient -- the technique of delivering a legal, maximally forceful open-palm strike is a specialized skill that takes time to develop. The ability to absorb strikes without flinching or losing consciousness is partly genetic and cannot be trained. Hager's chin -- tested in MMA but never in the specific context of slap fighting -- will be the determining factor.
The Super Heavyweight Division
Hager enters Power Slap's super heavyweight division, where his size will not be unusual. The division features competitors who routinely exceed 280 pounds, with some approaching 350. At 265, Hager may actually be undersized relative to his opponents, but his athletic background and body composition (lean muscle rather than bulk) could provide speed and technique advantages against larger but less athletic competitors.
Fan Reaction
The reaction to Hager's signing has split along predictable lines. Wrestling fans are intrigued by another chapter in the Jack Swagger story. MMA purists dismiss slap fighting as beneath a legitimate combat sports competitor. Power Slap's existing fanbase welcomes the star power. And critics of the sport view Hager's involvement as further evidence that Power Slap relies on spectacle rather than athletic merit.
What is beyond debate is that Hager's signing generates attention. In a media environment where combat sports promotions compete fiercely for clicks, views, and social media engagement, a former WWE champion entering slap fighting is a story that cuts across audience boundaries.
For more on Power Slap, see Power Slap. For the Saudi deal, see Power Slap Saudi Arabia Deal.