In an interview with Sporting News, Jake Hager said that he’s planning to trademark his Jack Swagger wrestling name, as WWE does not have it trademarked. Here are highlights:
On the negative response to his MMA debut: “I definitely understand the negative responses. Some people work their entire lives to become a professional fighter and see certain guys with exposure or just a name, hop into the professional ranks. It can rub people the wrong way and have them very doubtful of your skills because they see first-hand the hard work and how many years it takes to master this. I wasn’t too surprised with the positive reaction because I know I have a good fan base. I think a lot of people do want to see what I have and have been saying it for some time now.”
On trademarking the Jack Swagger name: “I still have a very good relationship with WWE. That’s why they are allowing R-Truth to perform my entrance on Saturday. I thought that was a very good sign from them. It’s a little bit of writing on the wall from them. As far as the Jack Swagger name, they do not have it trademarked. I’m in the process of trademarking the name. I know there’s a singer who has it trademarked for musical performances but this isn’t music. I think I have a good chance of owning it down the line. I won’t have the name for this fight, but hopefully, by the second fight it will be Jack Swagger.”
On being compared to Brock Lesnar: “No, I’m not tired of that comparison. I look at it this way: Everybody has questions. Everybody wants to identify me as a fighter in a certain way. On Saturday, I’m going to answer all those questions. They’re going to see from the show who I am. The questions do get tiresome at times, but it’s part of the game. If people want to compare me to Brock Lesnar – there’s worse people to compare me to.”