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Jack Swagger requests his release from WWE

Posted: Mar 2nd 2017 By: Dave Meltzer

In an appearance on "Beyond the Fight" with Chael Sonnen on Wednesday, Swagger announced the news and said that his decision to leave the company was made because of a lack of opportunities in WWE and the sides being so far apart in contract negotiations.

"As of yesterday, Chael, I asked for my release from WWE," Swagger said. "It's still kind of an ongoing process right now. Basically, it came down to contract negotiations and we were way off. They didn't value me at what I thought I was valued at. So, you can be angry about it because wrestling is something that you get so passionate about, but this was a business decision. They weren't giving me the opportunity to make the full amount of income I could for my family, so when you put it like that it's time to go."

Swagger said that the start-and-stop nature of his booking was frustrating, but noted that it's something that happens all of the time and that there are two people in a room in WWE who determine who the best wrestlers are even though the crowd may like others more.

When asked what his plans are going forward, Swagger noted that he's young and is leaving because he wasn't getting opportunities. He said that he intends to keep wrestling and wants to go to Mexico, the UK, and Japan, but it would be hard to turn down a good offer to try out mixed martial arts.

Prior to requesting his release, Swagger had been relegated to only making appearances on house shows. He switched brands and joined the SmackDown roster after being drafted to Raw in last July's WWE draft, but hasn't appeared on TV in months following a brief feud with Baron Corbin.