5 Ways WWE could have used Jack Swagger
Two weeks ago, Jack Swagger requested his release from WWE, but it wasn’t granted to him. As such, it appeared the company was going to try to keep him on the roster at least until his contract truly expired, if not longer. Earlier today, however, WWE decided to simply cut the cord and be done with him, officially announcing his release.
The initial shock was over and by now, nobody should be surprised that this happened. However, it’s interesting that for the past few months, WWE didn’t seem to even try to utilise Jack Swagger in any way that could have saved his career from the downward spiral it became.
At first, one might think this is just because there were bigger fish to fry—which admittedly was true, for the most part—but there are actually several ways he could have been of use that wouldn’t have taken much effort at all or even still, could have potentially yielded positive results.
Here is a breakdown of just a few of those options WWE had on the table but decided not to invest in.
#1 Give him actual feuds on SmackDown
When the brand split was reinstituted, the rosters for Raw and SmackDown were decided and the only people left out of the mix were Heath Slater and several injured wrestlers. Everybody else was accounted for and we all hoped that the WWE had thought everything out to create a truly balanced set of shows.
Rather soon afterwards, this was proven false, as Jack Swagger was moved from Raw to SmackDown. For a good week, it seemed like this could be the start of a relatively big push as Shelton Benjamin had been injured.
All things looked well and good as a feud with Baron Corbin started heating up. Then, out of nowhere, it just ceased to be a thing without any real resolution or payoff. Corbin didn’t look any better than before, Swagger stopped making appearances, and it was just a waste of time.
The most basic, simplest thing WWE could have done to get something out of Jack Swagger would have been to just flat out use him!
Swagger’s feud with Corbin might not have lit the world aflame, but why didn’t we get to see a series against Apollo Crews? Why not a match against AJ Styles? He could have put The Miz over again or even lost to Mojo Rawley. He’d have been decent fodder for The Wyatt Family at some point.
Hell, if WWE had a problem with Swagger and didn’t value his credibility, he could have even lost to James Ellsworth and it would have been better than sitting at home for half a year.
The only thing worse than being a loser is being someone who isn’t even considered worth the effort to put on the card to lose and WWE could have had at least a handful of months of Swagger as a legitimate midcarder before even reaching that desperation point.
For a former world Heavyweight Champion to just sit on the sidelines, instead of wrestling in any capacity is just a waste and it’s surprising WWE didn’t look at things that way.