Shawn Spears was the guest on this week’s episode of AEW Unrestricted with Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone. He talks about his wrestling career, going from WWE to AEW, working with Tully Blanchard, his wife WWE Star Peyton Royce, Bret Hart, and much more.
Here are some highlights:
On going to AEW:
“A lot of people thought I came into AEW to go right into the main event and right to the top of the mountain, and get all the titles. Not the case, exactly. I came over here to enjoy the remaining years of my career. I’m much more closer to the end of my career than I am the beginning. I feel great. The schedule has allowed me to heal a lot of nagging injuries. I can last 3 to 5 years in the ring comfortably. The other alluring thing is the creative freedom. I think within the course of the year, I have been able to speak a lot more and show a lot more personality. I couldn’t receive those opportunities anywhere else. I didn’t receive those opportunities anywhere else.”
On consulting with Bret Hart on the sharpshooter:
“I was thinking back to my childhood. I was looking for a submission. The sharpshooter popped in my mind. I’m thinking everybody does this. I thought, well, I’m going to ask Bret. I reached out. He got back to me and said yes, just do me a favor and win with it every now and then.”
On being married to a WWE Star Peyton Royce:
“It makes an interesting dynamic, but at the same time, I hate to burst people’s bubbles, it is not awkward or odd or difficult that people would hope it would be. We still have a great deal of time together. It boils down to we both love professional wrestling. She loves what she does, and I love what I do. She bounces ideas off me. I bounce ideas off her. It is a part of our lives, but we are husband and wife first.”
On Cody Rhodes:
“Here is the thing with Cody. The history between us is pretty well documented. We go back a very long way. That guy is never going to half-ass anything. You put him on top of the cage, he will moonsault off. If you hit him in the head with a chair, and I say get a hand up, he will say no, swing for the fences. As a performer, we have the same mentality. When he says he is going to outwork you, when he says he is going to out dog you or outperform you, he means it. What he may not understand is I’m that guy too. I can’t also half-ass anything.”
On having Tully Blanchard’s face on his trunks:
“I’m thinking, you had so many elements of professional wrestling on one card, how can you be different or at least fill in with this card with the time allotment of 5 to 7 minutes. The beautiful thing about AEW is that talent has freedom to go ahead, go out, and do what you want. The boxers, I did not tell the people about.
I told our cameraman. I didn’t smart up the announcers or anybody. It was something I went out and did on PPV. In my mind, I was going to get people talking about me one way or the other. It was my way of trying to stand out and have a memorable moment, good or bad.
In retrospect, that may not have been the best way to go, or it may have been a very entertaining way to go. In my opinion, if you can find a better entertaining 5 to 8 minutes, knock yourself out. Would it have been better suited for TV? Probably.
It was probably not a PPV quality match or segment. Tully Blanchard didn’t know about this. We had a couple of conversations afterward because he hasn’t been seen on TV for a while. That’s the first time and they saw him in that capacity, so he was not too thrilled.”
Since arriving in AEW Spears has not done much, but Tony Khan is still high on the former WWE star. Hopefully we can see a new Shawn Spears on AEW TV soon.
