Making A Case: Why Sam Shaw Should Be Next NWA Worlds Champion

One of the WWE’s most surprising releases recently was Dexter Lumis. He was entertaining to watch and had the potential to be a star. However, Sam Shaw has made his way to the NWA and has another opportunity to make an impact.

For the past decade, Samuel Shaw has really been able to become his own character. Shaw started his career in 2007 but didn’t start to make a name for himself until he signed with Impact Wrestling. He had a few appearances for the company before being a participant in TNA’s former Gut Check tryout program, looking nothing like we know him now. Shaw earned his spot in Impact Wrestling but he was far from the man that we can see today in NWA. In late 2013, Shaw created the character that would be the basis of who he still is portraying today and turned heel in Impact.

In an interview with Shaw, he asked to be referred to as Samuel Shaw from there forward. He would soon start to become obsessed with, then TNA ring announcer and backstage interviewer, Christy Hemme. He tried asking her out on dates and was seen to have posters of her all around his home. He would feud with Mr. Anderson during this point and be considered to be insane by many of his peers. Although, Christy Hemme dubbed him a “creepy bastard.” Less than two years after debuting his new character, Shaw was released from Impact in 2015.

Despite a short run as Samuel Shaw in Impact, he had a solid character moving forward and was determined to do just that. For the next few years, Shaw fought around in the indies attempting to make a name for himself. He fought shortly for companies like Jeff Jarrett’s short-lived Global Force Wrestling and in the National Wrestling Alliance. Although, all of Shaw’s hard work seemed to pay off in 2019 when he was announced as a part of the WWE’s February recruits. He soon would be repackaged as Dexter Lumis and arrived in NXT.

Unfortunately, Shaw’s time in the WWE didn’t go as well as he might have wanted. He spent his entire run with WWE as a member of the NXT brand and is known to have only said a handful of words the entire run. That is if his “I do” with Indi Hartwell weren’t his only two. You have to give him credit where due for being able to get a character like his over. He started to really gain steam when he got involved with Indi Hartwell and The Way. The fans have shown love for him in the past and NXT fans were upset to see him released back in April.

However, he is now signed with NWA and it is finally time for him to shine. Shaw returned to NWA for the first time since 2018 at their recent Alwayz Ready show. After Matt Cardona had to, unfortunately, relinquish the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, a fatal four-way match was announced to main even the show to crown a new champion. Sam Shaw was a surprise announcement for the match that was eventually won by Trevor Murdoch, who is now in his second reign as champion. Despite losing the match, Shaw instantly feels like a big deal by instantly being placed in the title picture.

Shaw has been dominant in his matches since his return match. He has shown the NWA fans that he is a threat to the roster and will soon be right back in the hunt for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. He has made a name for himself wherever he has gone even if he hasn’t always won a championship. He made sure that everybody would remember his name but NWA can be the place where Shaw finally gets to the top and has the title to prove it. Shaw is two years from reaching forty and has plenty of years to be a top star.

However, for somebody who has a very quiet character at times, Shaw could possibly use a manager to do his talking for him. Although, Shaw hasn’t always been silent and we could see him shift his character again and show everybody that he has plenty to say. Whatever Sam Shaw’s next career choice ends up being, I will certainly be following it.