Can the former Jack Swagger, Jake Hager, use MMA to get himself into a better position with WWE? Steve Cook ponders that point.

To put it mildly, there was a lot going on in the world of pro wrestling over the weekend, WWE specifically. I think the Royal Rumble has five or six matches still to go as I write this on a cold Monday afternoon. So it’s understandable if the events at Bellator 214 flew under your radar.

After all, MMA & pro wrestling are two different things. Most of the time, anyway. PRIDE was a little bit of both occasionally, but that was years & years ago.

Bellator’s show on Saturday night did bring something of interest to wrestling fans though. Jake Hager, the man previously known as Jack Swagger, made his MMA debut on Saturday night, defeating journeyman J.W. Kiser early in the first round with an arm triangle choke.

Unlike most former WWE Superstars that eventually made their way into the MMA world, Hager parted on good terms with the company. They even let R-Truth perform his entrance theme at the event and were cool with their footage being used in his tron video. He had a bit of a strange interview afterwards that caught some people off guard.

“Hey, you know, sometimes in order to convince Vince, you have to con Vince, baby!”

It probably sounded better in his head. Either way, the words stuck with me while I was recapping the never-ending Royal Rumble event & my mind was wandering. What exactly did Hager mean by “con Vince”? Was there something that we were all overlooking? Perhaps a method to the madness of the All-American American?

Then WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar came out for his quarterly match & it hit me like a ton of bricks. The idea behind Hager’s MMA career became crystal clear to me. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

Take a look at Raw right now. The Universal Champion, of course, is Brock Lesnar. Who’s the Intercontinental Champion? Why, none other than Bobby Lashley, a man who has some Bellator experience of his own. Both men were able to make the transition from pro wrestling to mixed martial arts, then return to pro wrestling later on & make even more money than they had before.

Why? Because they were able to prove that they were legitimately tough men. Lesnar made it to the UFC Heavyweight Championship, and is still considered a threat there whenever he’s actually around. Lashley went 17-2 in his MMA career & was a solid drawing card for the likes of Strikeforce & Bellator.

CM Punk…well, let’s just say that his MMA career hasn’t exactly gone the same way. UFC did pay him a good amount of money to get beat up, so he’s got that going for him.

How do you convince Vince you’re a star? Lesnar & Lashley did it by showing they didn’t need Vince. Can Jake Hager do the same? If he can, maybe he’ll be back in WWE in a few years on one of those sweetheart deals.

Sometimes you have to take a chance on yourself. Jake Hager is doing that right now, and he’s doing it with plenty of Swagger…whether he can call himself that or not.