Shawn Spears speaks about his days in WWE and why he asked for his release.
Spears is better known by his WWE name of Tye Dillinger. The former WWE superstar sat down with Chris Van Vliet for a YouTube interview.
He wrestled for WWE for eight and a half years over two different tenures with the company. However, Spears asked for his release in February of this year. He was last seen at the AEW Double or Nothing Battle Royale match.
WWE Allowing Spears To Make Double Or Nothing
However, Spears was almost unable to make the event because of WWE’s 90 day no compete clause. The clause expired the day before Double or Nothing and if WWE had waited an additional 24 hours he would have been forced to miss the event.
Spears believes WWE knew he may want to work the Double or Nothing event or may want to wrestle as soon as possible. He believes WWE processed the paperwork as soon as possible so he could work the event.
“Maybe it’s a mutual respect that I had built up with them. I was with them for eight and a half years total. Including my first time around and I did things right. I never got into any trouble, I was professional and carried myself well and always did what I was asked to do,” Spears said when asked why WWE didn’t deny his release like others.
Spears Being Underutilized
The rumors of Spears being under utilized by WWE have been around a very long time. He was always known as a guy who could be the next big talent, but was given the chance. However, in the later part of his WWE career Spears began to sour on how WWE was using him.
“My career in WWE wasn’t exactly how I would have hoped it would be. Especially coming from NXT and the momentum of the Perfect 10 character,” Spears said.
Why He Decided To Leave WWE
When asked about what his thought process was when he decided to leave the biggest wrestling promotion in the world he said it was about looking back on his career. Spears said he had to sit back and think about what was most important to him in his life at this point in his career.
“I don’t really look at them in terms of how they are treating people. I look at it as an overall product and I go ‘they’re going to have to change things up. They’re going to have to step things up,” Spears said when asked about how WWE treats their wrestlers and AEW as a promotion.
The Biggest Difference Between WWE and AEW
After one show with AEW Spears said the biggest difference between WWE and AEW is credibility. WWE never gave wrestlers credibility by giving them time to wrestle and showcase their talent. However, AEW is doing so and he felt like that showed at Double or Nothing. Spears spoke about when wrestlers left the ring even if fans didn’t know who they were before hand wanted to know more after the match. At the time of this interview Spears was not signed with AEW, but now has officially signed.
The former NXT Head Coach Bill DeMott held him down according to Spears. When Spears was evaluated by coaches he would always score 9s or 10s, but DeMott always gave Spears 6s on his evaluation. When speaking to a friend about these poor grades his friend said if anyone was a 10 it was Spears. This comment later became the base for the Perfect 10 character.
Spears was about to quit NXT, but a big hairy angel by the name Matt Bloom took over as head coach. Bloom gave Spears free reign to explore the Perfect 10 character.
The interview concluded with Spears showing off his tattoos and explaining the meaning behind each one.
“Because no matter what happens in my career this was one of my favorite times in wrestling,” Spears said while showing his Roman numeral 10 on his arm.
