It has been a spectacularly unfortunate week for news related to WWE cruiserweights, so it’s nice that we’re ending the week on a bit of an upbeat note. To recap: on Monday, just hours before Raw 25, Enzo Amore was suspended in light of rape allegations that came out on Twitter and were quickly reported on. Less than 24 hours later, Amore was released by the company.
Amore was the reigning WWE Cruiserweight Champion at the time of his suspension and release, and was set to take on Cedric Alexander for the title at Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Daniel Bryan opened this week’s episode of 205 Live to announce that the title had officially been “surrendered,” and that next week a 205 Live general manager will be appointed, who will then decide the fate of the title and who will be competing for it.
Meanwhile, fans were still waiting for word about another suspended former cruiserweight champ, Rich Swann. Back in December, Swann was arrested on charges of battery and false imprisonment. WWE has a zero tolerance policy for matters of domestic violence or sexual assault among active roster members, and he was immediately suspended, with the company waiting until the resulting police investigation was complete to take further action.
On Thursday, PWInsider reported that Swann had received good news, as all charges in his case were summarily dropped. Prosecutors in the case cited “insufficient evidence” to move forward with the case, and Swann is now free and clear of any legal wrongdoing.
A brief summary of the alleged events leading to Swann’s arrest back in December, which involved his wife, wrestler Su Yung (real name Vannarah Riggs):
According to the police report from Gainsville PD and eyewitnesses at the scene, Swann and Riggs were driving down the road after the show and discussing her match when Swann got angry at her, causing Riggs to leave the car while it was stopped in traffic. Swann reportedly left the car and pursued Riggs, allegedly grabbing her by the arm and putting her in a headlock before placing her back in his vehicle. Shortly thereafter, Riggs jumped out of the vehicle while it was moving, causing Swann to abandon his car and allegedly give chase again. The car later hit a telephone pole.
For whatever it is worth, Yung has only had positive things to say about Swann publicly and on social media, including in posts made mere days after his arrest. Now that the case has been settled and Swann has been legally cleared of any crime, it is expected that he will be cleared to return to WWE in short order.
