Jack Swagger Requests Release from WWE Contract

WWE Superstar Jack Swagger has requested his release from the company after a contract dispute.

"As of yesterday, Chael, I asked for my release from WWE," Swagger said on Chael Sonnen's Beyond the Fight podcast on Wednesday, (h/t Cageside Seats' Sean Rueter). "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...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."

On Friday, Raj Giri of WrestlingInc.com provided WWE's statement on the matter:

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"Jack Swagger has not been granted a release from his WWE contract. When he is granted his release, Jack Swagger will remain under exclusive contract to WWE for 90 days and will be compensated accordingly during that period."

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Swagger, 34, has been with WWE since 2006. He is currently signed to the SmackDown Live brand but has not been part of any major storylines since a feud with Baron Corbin in October.

A former two-sport athlete at the University of Oklahoma, Swagger was hot-shotted to the top of the company almost immediately after his main-roster debut. He became the ECW champion in 2009, won the 2010 Money in the Bank ladder match and later earned the World Heavyweight Championship with a win over Chris Jericho.

While he later became a United States champion in 2012, Swagger never reached his previous heights. Teaming with manager Zeb Colter in an anti-immigrant stance, Swagger got a WrestleMania 29 program and lengthy feud designed to put over world heavyweight champion Alberto Del Rio.

Swagger would never return to the main event scene again. He spent most of his final three years in the WWE on the lower midcard, more over for his "We the People" chant than any major storylines or notable matches.

Still relatively young, Swagger (real name: Jake Hager) told Sonnen he would wrestle on the independent circuit and possibly dabble in mixed martial arts. This move could be seen as one similar to Cody Rhodes, who requested to leave WWE last May over creative differences. Rhodes has gone on to become perhaps the top independent talent in the world.

While Swagger is a few years older and arguably got better opportunities in WWE than Rhodes, it's likely he'll have no issue finding booking around the world.