Weekend incident goes awry for WWE star. After his arrest, Rich Swann’s future in the WWE may be in jeopardy.
Early this weekend, news broke of WWE’s 205 Live star, Rich Swann was arrested for alleged battery and false imprisonment of his newlywed wife – fellow professional wrestler Su-Yung.
Due to numerous national media requests…mugshot and arrest report for Rich Swann can be found here: https://t.co/PvQj5B7A7n
(Redactions made in accordance with FSS 119 that protects home address/phone of domestic violence victim.) pic.twitter.com/EgjbzTbjNq
— Gainesville Police (@GainesvillePD) December 10, 2017
The Gainesville Police Department report states…
The incident began over an argument and she was scared that it would have escalated to violence and he “has a temper sometimes”. Su-Yung told Swann to stop the car, so she could get out, and Swann refused. This eventually lead to her jumping out of the slowly moving car.
Two witnesses observed that Swann himself jumped out of the moving vehicle, in which hit a telephone pole, to pursue his wife. Swann then “put her in a headlock and shoved her back into the car”. One of the witness also stated that Swann’s wife was “screaming for help” while “beating on the window”.
Swann was read his Miranda Rights after the arrest and stated that he never physically touched her, and she got in the car by herself.
WWE’s response to the incident
WWE has indefinitely suspended Rich Swann following the arrest, posting that the “WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence”. This is definitely not the first time WWE has had one their athletes suspended indefinitely for domestic violence.
Former WWE wrestler Adam Rose was released from the company in 2016 for a domestic violence charge. WWE has a “morals clause” in their contacts in which they determine the punishment for breaking it.
The punishment seems to vary at times, but the one thing does remain in the recent years for breaking the “moral clause” is suspension. Will Swann’s WWE career follow the same path as Adam Rose? That is yet to be known this early in the case.
Where does WWE from here?
Rich Swann had a promising WWE career. Wrestling in NXT events and becoming as a baby face favorite. Swann also became the Cruiserweight champion on the first episode of WWE’s 205 Live. He kept the title for two month’s before losing it to Neville. Swann started to work way his back to title contention. He was schedule to face against Drew Gulak in a match. This would determine the number one contender for the Cruiserweight title held by Enzo Amore.
WWE has now suspended Swann. As a result, they have to now pull an audible and schedule a match with Gulak with no build up. Veteran Brian Kendrick could also fill in for Swann and put over Gulak. Paving the way for an Enzo vs Gulak title match. WWE might opt into not having a number one contender’s match and just push Gulak into the title match with Enzo. The newly created on air spot can be used to debut recently signed talent.
Whatever WWE’s creative decide on what to do, they are going to have to work fast. As for the WWE higher-ups, they are going to have to decide on whether or not Swann is going to be worth keeping amid the negative publicity.
