Before Jack Swagger took a hiatus from WWE in September 2012, things couldn't have been going worse for him. Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler left him to fend for himself, he was rarely on Raw and he had embarked on a massive losing streak. That said, it was in his best interest to walk away for a while and return rejuvenated. The former ECW champion made an unannounced on the post-Royal Rumble episode of SmackDown, and from there, he underwent a complete character change. In the weeks that followed, he debuted a new manager (Zeb Colter), a new look, and even new entrance music. WWE was determined to move away from fans' perception of Swagger as an enhancement talent. He returned to the main event scene almost overnight when he won an Elimination Chamber match to become the new No. 1 contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 29. But then he got himself arrested due to a DUI and cost himself any shot of winning the gold at WrestleMania. Technically, Swagger dropped the ball on his own push in this case, but nothing was stopping WWE from featuring him in the world title picture when he returned from injury in mid-2013. They just gave up on the guy.
Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.
