WWE Releases Rich Swann, Weeks After Domestic Violence Charges Dismissed

Rich Swann was arrested in December after a violent incident with his wife.

WWE and Rich Swann “have mutually agreed to part ways,” the promotion announced Thursday. 

Swann’s release comes three weeks after domestic violence charges were dropped against him. He was arrested in early December after an incident with his wife, Vannarah Riggs, who wrestles on the independent circuit as Su Yung. WWE suspended Swann indefinitely in the wake of the arrest. 

Swann and Riggs had an argument in their, police said, and Riggs jumped out of the moving vehicle when Swann refused to pull over. A witness told the cops Swann then ran after Riggs, grabbed her arm, put her in a headlock and forced her back in the car. He was arrested on charges of battery and false imprisonment but the charges were dropped after prosecutors decided they had “insufficient evidence.”

Swann had been with WWE since 2015 and initially competed in NXT. He had a brief run as cruiserweight championship in 2016. 

Swann is the second member of the cruiserweight division in the span of a month to be released amid legal trouble. Enzo Amore, the then-champion, was released in January after being accused of rape.