Jack Swagger On Chris Jericho Threatening Him Before World Title Win, What Vince McMahon Didn't Like
Jake Hager, formerly known as WWE Superstar Jack Swagger, was recently a guest on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness. Among many other things, Swagger and Edge recalled a funny scenario involving WWE alumni Chris Jericho when Swagger cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase to become World Heavyweight Champion in 2010. After a promo between Edge and Jericho, Swagger nailed Edge with the briefcase on the ramp before cashing in on Jericho.
According to Swagger, he was made to sit outside in a hallway and wait while Vince McMahon, Edge, and Jericho planned Swagger's cash in. After the meeting, Jericho told Swagger not to "f–k it up" in a somewhat threatening way.
"So I got the call. We were in Phoenix [Arizona] the night before for RAW and SmackDown was in [Las] Vegas [Nevada] and I was already going to Vegas," Swagger recalled. "It was after [WrestleMania] and my wife and I were going to have go and have a couple of days there. So they called me after RAW and said, 'hey, come to SmackDown. We've got something for you,' so I had a clue something was going on [regarding cashing in] then. So I get to the building at about 3 o'clock and [Johnny] Ace has me just wait in the hallway. 'Naw, naw, kid – wait right here.' And I think [Edge] was standing there at one point. And then, he came out and he pulled you in and then I went to go in and they'd close the door and he'd say, 'no, kid – wait, wait, wait.' So then, I'm out in the hallway waiting for a little bit. Maybe Jericho comes in then or entered the meeting or he was already in there. Then you guys finally pull me in and I thought it was pretty straightforward. Everybody was being professional and then Chris turns to me and pretty blatantly, in my face? are we allowed to cuss on here? Okay. Pretty blatantly, to my face, he turns, he goes, 'don't f–k this up! I'll be watching every move!' And I was like, 'alright. I just want to make everyone better. I'm here.' And, still, to this day, I don't know if he was f–king with me, just seeing how I would react or if he was really serious."
In Edge's estimation, Jericho was "legit serious" in threatening Swagger, but also testing 'The All American American' as well.
"Knowing Chris, I'd say that he was legit serious, but also testing [Swagger], and seeing how [Swagger] would react," Edge claimed. "I know what my reaction was because they were like, 'what do you think?' 'Well, good by me. I'm not losing any sleep over it. I think it'd be great. It just gets one more person going.' And I just remember Chris turning and saying that! I just went, 'oh my God.' And if [Swagger] had said, 'hey, f–k you [to Jericho]!' [Swagger] would have been completely warranted in doing that. And then, it would have kicked off. And Chris would have tried, because Chris doesn't back down, but I just kept thinking, 'Chris, just leave it at that, man. Just leave it at that!' And thankfully, that's where it got left and we all went out and did business. But I just remember that story and howling afterwards. I'm like, 'f–king Jericho!' It's great and it's classically him."
Swagger divulged that Jericho especially likes to retell the story when Swagger's wife is around. Swagger suggested that the angle went off well and that the only problem was that McMahon told Swagger he should have hit Edge with the briefcase harder.
"Yes, it was great and every moment my wife is with Chris, he likes to bring up that story in front of her and I'm like, 'thanks, man. Cool.' But I did, in retrospect, powerbomb his shoes somewhere into the seventh floor of the Thomas & Mack arena that night, so I can't complain too much." Swagger added, "the only thing that was bad was Vince yelled at me for not hitting [Edge] hard enough with the briefcase. 'It's not ballet.'"
Suffering succotash. If you use any of the quotations from this article, please credit E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness