WWE continues to bring in former All Elite Wrestling talent. For the first three years of its existence, AEW and WWE operated as a one-way street. Numerous former WWE stars like Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson took their talents to the blossoming promotion, but no AEW wrestlers defected to WWE. This changed when Cody Rhodes departed AEW for WWE in early 2022. Rhodes was followed by Brian Pillman Jr. and Jade Cargill, two of AEW’s homegrown stars, who ended up contracted with WWE in 2023. The latest to make the switch has been Shawn Spears, a former WWE star in his own right.
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Spears competed for WWE throughout the 21st century, largely known for his time in NXT as Tye Dillinger. His über-popular “Perfect 10” gimmick didn’t transition to the main roster as strongly as anticipated, leading him to rebrand to Shawn Spears and leap to AEW. Spears competed at AEW’s inaugural event, AEW Double or Nothing 2019, and would spend the next five years on the roster. Aside from a hot rivalry with Cody Rhodes and a main event alliance with MJF in The Pinnacle, Spears was fairly directionless during his AEW run. This led to him leaving AEW altogether and returning to WWE, continuing the persona he took on while he was All Elite.
Shawn Spears Expects to End Career in WWE
The Perfect 10 knows where his curtain call will take place.
Speaking to Fightful, Shawn Spears revealed he plans to end his in-ring career as a member of the WWE roster.
“In a perfect world, this is me hoping, that this is the last stop. This is it,” Spears said. “Regardless of my in-ring future here or what not, I can confidently say that I will finish my career here in WWE.”
The 43-year-old Spears told ComicBook.com last summer that when he eventually does decide to call it quits, he will do so quietly.
“I don’t think it’ll be announced as a last match. I won’t announce it as a last match. I’ll just have the match. I’ll know when I’m done, and then I will just be away, and that’ll be it,” Spears said in June 2023. “I’ll just ride into the sunset on my own. That would kind of be a perfect full circle moment, because in this industry, you’re on your own a lot. It’ll mean the world to me, but people won’t know that it’ll be the last match.”
Spears competes on WWE NXT every Tuesday at 8 PM ET on USA Network.
