AEW: Shawn Spears has a huge point to prove

Formerly Tye Dillinger in WWE, Shawn Spears has officially signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) after being linked to the nascent promotion for months.

Shawn Spears has a huge point to prove to the wrestling world, but the people in charge of AEW have every reason to ensure he excels.

When fans turn against a professional wrestler’s character and body of work, it isn’t always a pretty sight. After being on NXT with a “10” gimmick that led to memorable chants in his main roster debut at Royal Rumble 2017, Tye Dillinger became an afterthought on main roster programming, especially once his time in the United States Title picture quickly vanished.

Subtweeting Nia Jax – who simply wanted more opportunities and better representation for non-white women in WWE – didn’t endear Dillinger to fans either. In fact, aside from his Twitter Q&As that mostly focused on him being “underutilized,” that may have been the last notable thing Dillinger did on the WWE roster.

Despite the fact that fans seemingly stopped caring about Shawn Spears in WWE once his booking went south, it’s easy to forget that he’s a solid professional wrestler. Willing to make fun of himself and capable of having a decent match with any performer, the challenge for Spears will be proving that he’s more than just a “solid hand.”

Even when he was “over” in NXT with vociferous “10” chants and a babyface character fans could get behind, Spears wasn’t a major player or portrayed as a viable threat to win silverware.

At AEW, Spears can change that perception. He was unfairly labeled as complacent and some fans openly wondered if he was ever good enough to begin with. Others pointed out that WWE has trouble with gimmicks like Dillinger’s and probably didn’t care if he succeeded or not. This especially seems to be the case since he didn’t have a chance to stand out on a two-hour SmackDown Live that was loaded with stars like AJ Styles, The Usos and Charlotte Flair.

AEW officially announced Spears’s signing on the second episode of their Road to Fyter Fest. Spears joins Awesome Kong, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, PAC and Jon Moxley as prominent wrestlers in AEW who were once with WWE.

Jericho’s impact on pro wrestling outside WWE has been profound. Meanwhile, Moxley’s debut at Double or Nothing was one of the greatest debuts in wrestling history, while Awesome Kong’s debut was a show stealer and Cody vs. Dustin stands as a Match of the Year candidate.

That means there’s real opportunity for Spears to stand out in AEW, even amidst all the doubts relating to his skills in the ring and his versatility as a performer. Nobody will deny that Spears, who has wrestled since 2002, is capable in the ring. But some aren’t sure if he can approach an “elite” level.

The reality is that it doesn’t matter. At Double or Nothing, AEW showed that the slower, selling-based, suspenseful matches that slowly get the crowd involved will be just as important as light-hearted matches and fast-paced matches built around athleticism. Which of these categories (none of which are mutually exclusive) Spears falls into is up to both him and the powers that be in AEW.

Since Spears and Cody Rhodes have such a positive relationship, it’s logical to expect AEW to do whatever they can to ensure Spears succeeds in his new home. But there’s a more fundamental reason for why AEW will do whatever they can to make sure Spears flourishes like he never did in WWE.

AEW is selective about who they bring to their promotion from WWE, because they don’t want to fall into the old TNA trap of being perceived as “WWE lite”. They have also clearly shown that they want to sign standout wrestlers who aren’t as well-known or are younger.

Spears, at 38, is a well-traveled veteran whose brand is familiar to hardcore wrestling fans as a former main roster superstar. Therefore, if Spears can’t find success in AEW and AEW wants to present themselves a a better, wrestler-friendly promotion, what does it say if Spears can’t even achieve more success in AEW than he did in NXT?

Spears has so much to prove in AEW and I’m sure his hunger to prove detractors wrong will fuel him to experiment and reinvent himself even after nearly two decades in the wrestling business. But by the same token, AEW have a point to prove with signing Spears.

They want to show the wrestling world that they can use WWE’s veteran performers better than WWE can, further reinforcing the notion that they are “better” when comparing the two promotions head-to-head. Dustin having a brilliant match with Cody is one thing, but getting fans invested in a motivated Spears will be a different statement entirely.

Although Shawn Spears could be set for life with bookings on the independent scene and certainly doesn’t need to tie his professional success to his personal happiness – especially after already showing that he can “make it” as a pro wrestler – this is clearly personal for him.

He’s taken this opportunity to show wrestling fans exactly what he can do as an all-around performer and fans should carefully note how he’s reintroduced by AEW.