Shawn Spears wants to go out of the business having fun.
The 21 year veteran recently made his return to All Elite Wrestling after being gone from the company for nearly six months. Upon his return, Spears has seemingly entered a program with Bullet Club Gold members Jay White and Juice Robinson.
Spears has been with AEW since the company's very first pay-per-view event in May 2019 and has been an intergal figure in a number of storylines for the company.
In a new interview with WrestleZone, Spears was asked if he was expecting to be highlighted more now that he's back with the company. The former Pinnacle member first into detail about how he's a character driven wrestler.
“I’ve always been a very big character driven person. I grew up on some of [the best like] Mr. Perfect, like Rick Rude and Rick Martel, I grew up on characters. I’m a big believer in people getting invested in characters, I think nowadays it’s a lost concept to a degree. There is still a lot of characters in wrestling, but there seems to be a lot of emphasis on the moves. I equate it to an actor with a script, Denzel Washington, in my opinion, is one of the greatest actors of all time. How he worked on a paper to him are his tools. Wrestling moves to us are just tools. It’s the character that people get invested in, not necessarily the words on a page or the moves in the ring. So I’ll always be driven towards being a character type person. The stuff with the accountabilibuddy and throwing out the heys, I kind of like to have layers to that character, whether that be comedic or [an] angry [man] who swings a chair and hits someone, it’s very euphoric for him quote on quote. But these are just all layers to one Shawn Spears. So whether it’s the chairman or the ten stuff, I like to be as wide ranged as possible. I remember Dusty telling me back in the FCW days, ‘Many times in this business you’re gonna be handed chicken shit, it’s just a matter of not whether you can turn it into chicken salad.’ That’s what makes a pro and I’d like to think that anything I’ve been handed, whether it be for me specifically or to highlight everyone around me, I have turned everything that I have been given to chicken salad every single time."
Spears then went on to say that he thinks his role in AEW is set and that he's interested in having banger matches before riding off into the sunset.
“So whether or not I’m going to be highlighted coming back, I don’t think that’s going to be a thing. I think my role in AEW is pretty set. I, for lack of a better [phrase], I don’t care anymore. I want to go out and have banger matches, I wanna wrestle Jay White, I wanna wrestle FTR, I wanna wrestle Wardlow, I wanna wrestle Max, I wanna wrestle these guys because I’m winding down. My time is coming to an end. I wanna have banger matches before I’m done, get it out of my system and ride off into the sunset.”
Spears then conrimed that his outlook towards wrestling has changed drastically in recent months and that he can only control what he can control.
“It’s wild how your outlook [can change]. Your priorities are pretty set in stone, my job until my son came around was to provide for my wife, take care of my wife and my household. Now he’s there, he’s just an added addition to all of that. My outlook towards work, that has changed pretty drastically. My drive hasn’t, I’m a pretty goal-oriented person, but I’m also level-headed and logical. I control what I can control and you’ve heard that a million times. You can only control so much in pro wrestling. The rest is left up to the higher-ups and that is true. The problem that I feel talent runs into is when they try to change that or they consistently fight back against something that could very well be a losing battle. For that individual, that can cause a lot of mental anguish, it can cause a lot of stress, and you can really lose your enjoyment of what this all is and let’s not make any mistake, professional wrestling is very fun. It can be really, really fun. I get to put on tights and go out there and roll around with my buddies. It’s a fun gig, but it is a business and there is a business aspect to it that if you’re not prepared for, or that you constantly want to fight against, it’s gonna kinda make things unenjoyable for you as an individual. So coming back, I am going to be a little more selfish in regards to what I can control. So, a few things you will see on TV, whether it be Dynamite or Rampage, going forward have come from me. Whether it’s a win, lose, or draw, it was probably my idea or it was whatever. Because believe it or not, I’ve been doing this for 21 years and I’ve been getting paid at a very high level for over 14 years. I know what I’m doing. I’m not afraid to put that foot forward anymore. I’m not afraid to put my voice out there. I’m not afraid to send a bunch of text messages. Whether they’re answered or not is a different story, but I don’t care. I just want to enjoy the remaining time that I have and control what I can control.”
Spears recently noted that he wants to wrestle Wardlow in a straight up wrestling match in the future. Previously, Spears and Wardlow faced off in a Steel Cage match in May 2022.
Speara also recently praised Tony Khan for being a good man and giving him as much time off that he needed following the death of his mother. Fans can learn more by clicking here.
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