Jack Swagger was recently interviewed by Submission Radio. He spoke on a variety of different topics during the interview about his career. This includes why he left WWE and much more. Below are some of the highlights.
Swagger on why he decided to leave WWE:
“Well, you know, the WWE, it’s a dream job, but it’s like any other job where there’s politics and you got bosses that you have to deal with. And so for me, in the great words of Drizzy Drake, the moment I stop having fun with it, I’m done with it. So it got to the point where, not that I wasn’t having fun, because going out there in front of thousands of fans and wrestling, it’s what I’m born to do, but it came to a point where I wasn’t there for the same reasons that they were having me there. Like, I need to compete, and that’s one thing that I take away from leaving WWE, is I’ll never go this long without competing again because it’s a part of who I am. And when I’m not competing is when I will struggle with things because I’m not going 100 percent or focused 100 percent.
“So for me it was a combination of two things, I needed a change, I needed to be pushed, I needed to be challenged, and also it was a great opportunity, it was a great time to leave. It’s a great time to be a pro wrestler right now. As you guys said, I’m working non-stop since I left the company. It’s also a great time to be a pro fighter. So that’s also why I left. I knew that I had this opportunity ahead of me and that I needed to leave to focus on it and really give MMA 125 percent, as well as capitalize on the great TV exposure that I received over the last 12 years.”
Swagger on if he ever wrestled Brock Lesnar backstage to find out who the better wrestler was:
“(Joking) By compare wrestling techniques, you mean that I can take Brock Lesnar down at will? Yes, then we compared wrestling techniques. I could close my eyes and tie one hand behind my back and I could bounce Brock Lesnar’s forehead off the mat if he ever, ever tried to wrestle with me (laughs).”
On a related note, Swagger revealed a storyline pitch that he made to WWE that was rejected. You can read that here.