Road Dogg Addresses Shawn Spears' WWE And AEW Booking
Shawn Spears is just one of many talents who were released by WWE and found their way over to AEW. Known as Tye Dillinger while in WWE, Spears had a gimmick that typically received very good reactions from live crowds, claiming he was the "Perfect 10" with the crowd commonly chanting 10 during matches he was not even involved with. However, Spears did not see much success in WWE, failing to capture championships in "NXT" or on either main roster brand. WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg discussed fans who wanted Spears to receive more opportunities in WWE and discussed his booking in AEW.
"Same people love Shawn Spears, 'Give Shawn Spears a chance ... What did you put him [in a triple threat match against AJ Styles and Baron Corbin at Hell in a Cell 2017] for," Dogg said while on his "Oh...You Didn't Know?" podcast. "You can't have it both ways. If you want the guy to work, we put him in there and let him work. You know, now all of a sudden everyone says, 'Oh, he's going to go to AEW where he'll be used right.' He hasn't been on AEW in two years."
Spears competed in the first-ever AEW show, Double or Nothing 2019, as part of the Casino Battle Royal, and has wrestled a total of 69 matches for the company. Of those 69 matches, 30 have either been on PPV, "Dynamite," or "Rampage," with his most recent televised match taking place on the May 25th edition of "Dynamite." Spears has also been involved with The Pinnacle, a now-defunct faction featuring himself, MJF, FTR, and Wardlow which mainly feuded with the Inner Circle in 2021.