Jack Swagger released by WWE after 11 years

Published Mar. 15, 2017 3:04 p.m. ET

Nick Schwartz

Jack Swagger's resurgence on SmackDown Live turned out to be short-lived. Nearly 11 years after signing his first contract with WWE, former World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger has been released by the company as of Monday.

Swagger had revealed in an interview with Chael Sonnen earlier this month that he had asked for his release. Swagger hasn't been seen on television since last October, when he was involved in a short feud with Baron Corbin after switching from Raw to the SmackDown roster.

Swagger, a former All-American wrestler at Oklahoma, signed with WWE in 2006 and debuted in ECW two years later. He had a three-month run as the ECW Champion before heading to Raw, and won a Money In The Bank contract in 2010, eventually using it to take Chris Jericho's World Heavyweight Championship. In recent years, a patriotic Swagger was involved in feuds with foreigners Rusev and Alberto Del Rio, but he made fewer and fewer appearances on television until disappearing entirely in late 2016.