Q: Obviously, you went to the University of Oklahoma, but you originally went to play football there right?
A: I graduated high school in 2001 and I received a full scholarship to play a Division 1 football for the Sooners. I was on their team for three years; we went to the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. At the end of my third year, their heavyweight for the wrestling team became academically ineligible for the second half of their season and they had no backup. So I ended up finishing out the season for them, while still playing football, and at the end of that season, my third year at school, I switched over to wrestling full time.
I wrestled four years for them, including that half season. So, it was three [years of] football, four [years of] wrestling. It sounds like a lot but I was there for five.
Q: Were you a WWE fan growing up and did you ever think you'd be a WWE Superstar?
A: Never in my wildest dreams as a kid did I think I'd be a WWE Superstar. Still today, when we go out in do shows in front of the crowd and we do shows, it blows my mind that I'm lucky enough and this is what I do for a living. It's pretty awesome. As a kid, I was a fan of any type of wrestling, I started wrestling when I was five, and whatever form I could get my hands on whether it was freestyle, collegiate, or even pro in the back yard on the trampoline. I was all over it.
Q: Who was your favorite wrestler as a kid?
A: You know I'm an Oklahoma boy, I gotta stay true. Danny Hodge [a three-time NCAA Division I champion wrestler and professional wrestler] was a big influence as a kid, his legend just kind of creeps around Oklahoma. He was an idol to me and he lived not far from me. I was the same age as his grandson and we started wrestling together and he helped me a lot early on.
Q: How has your amateur background played into your training for the WWE?
A: When I was first recruited to the WWE and was in their developmental system for 2 and a half years, mainly under Dusty Rhodes, Steve Keirn and Dr. Tom Pritchard, I felt like my amateur background really helped me prepare physically and mentally for what I was trying to give the WWE. Mentally, you know to go through the training and stay dedicated and determined to your training and to keep focused on it even when you've got a small crowd and it's really hot outside or something, you've gotta push through it. The physical part of it really was the easiest part for me. I thought I excelled very well at learning the techniques and the proper maneuvers to be safe out there as well as entertaining. Man, it really put me light years in front of other people, I thought.
Q: So do you still use a lot of those skills in the ring now?
A: Yup, I use a lot of the same movements and skills in the ring. A little more transitioned into this style to make them bigger, larger than life, but a lot of it you'll see in my training. I still do a lot of my same amateur training to keep my body in shape and keep me prepared for the top level Superstars that we have.
Q: Who came up with the name Jack Swagger?
A: It was a combination of me and WWE Creative. Honestly, they just came to me one day and based on my personality said ‘You're Jack Swagger.' And at the time, it was just 2008 before all the hit pop songs and rap songs came out with Swagger in them. I thought it was really cool and really exciting. To this day I still say when you hear swagger, that's about Jack Swagger, the All-American American.
Q: So how much the guy you see on TV is the real Jake Hager [Swagger's real name]?
A: What you see on TV is, of course, a television character, the All-American American. It's a definitely a large part of Jake Hager, but not the whole part. What we do, what we try to do, in order to make our characters believable and entertaining, is you've got to make them part of you. So 90 percent of my personality you see on TV with that remaining 10 percent that added TV character.
Q: You've developed quite a rivalry with Evan Bourne as of late. Can you talk about working with him a little bit?
A: Definitely. I know July 24 we'll be coming to Upper Marlboro and it's always an exciting match, whether I want it to be or not. (Laughs.) I always have to ground and pound with him because if you get him roaring and let him fly around a little bit, he can really do some damage to any competitor. We have a rivalry going, I don't fell like it's really started or taken off to where it could go. I know I need to teach him a couple lessons as far as respect goes. I don't think he'll ever learn that from me, but every time we're in the ring together, it's gonna be magic.
Q: How did things change for you after you won Money in the Bank and then the World Championship last year?
A: It was awesome. It was a monumental feat. Once you're a world champion, you're always a world champion and to put those two words besides your name, it really is humbling to say it out loud. It changed a lot of things in my life; it changed my perspective toward things and how I handled myself. You really can't put it into words what it means; it's different for every person. But, it was a lifelong dream, and at the same time, it's just the tip of the iceberg because it makes me want more. I want more world championships. Once you have a taste for it, it's like a shark in the water smelling blood. You gotta go for it and you gotta give it everything or you're going to come short.
Q: What did you learn from being the champion and being the top guy on the show?
A: Man, there's so much [I learned] not only being the top guy, but working with the other top guys and getting their mindsets and perspectives. That really is the goal right there. What I learned in those 78 days as World Champion was truly was phenomenal. It felt like 10 years of experience I digested and took from these people. It was truly an honor to work with those top guys and to take any lesson they could teach me.
Q: So speaking of those top guys, you've only been in WWE a few years, but you've worked with a lot of the big names already - Cena, Orton, Edge, Triple H, Rey Mysterio, even Undertaker - who was your favorite person to work with so far?
A: All of them. When you are working at that level, that's what you're going for. You want to be in the main event. You want to transcend your generation of wrestlers. You want, 20 years from now, people to say the All-American American Jack Swagger was a great WWE Superstar and to work with them, it's an honor and a lot of fun.
Q: Any one match in particular stand out?
A: Off the top of my head, as a World Championship match, me and Undertaker had the fourth largest live wrestling crowd in 2010 in Mexico City, so that added a lot to the match and the fact it was the Undertaker and the first time I was wrestling him. It was huge; it was phenomenal to have that many people around. It stands out, I'd say.
Q: Any other Legends you'd want the opportunity to work with?
A: You know, just 'cause I find his tweets very funny, that's the Iron Sheik. He's a former amateur wrestler, I'm a amateur wrestler, let's lock horns and see who comes out on top, you know what I'm saying.
Q: I've read some people compare you to Kurt Angle, and I think Angle himself did an interview where he addressed that. What do you think of those comparisons?
A: I mean, honestly, I'm a big fan of Kurt. He's one of the reasons I wanted to wrestle, I admired him as an amateur wrestler and admired him even more as a professional wrestler. To be compared to him, it's an honor, but at the same time, I think both of us are different people and different wrestlers. It might be apples to oranges, but at the same time it's nice to be in that category.
Q: Last one, will Jack Swagger always be a bad guy in the WWE, or do you think there's going to be a time when the fans are cheering you?
A: With a name like the All-American American, how can you not cheer? It just rolls off the tongue so nice. That's the great thing about the WWE you never know what to expect. We like to deliver a great show and give you something you've never seen every time out the gate, so you never know.
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