Shawn Spears shares some details about his return to WWE back in 2013.
The current AEW star spoke about this topic during a recent interview with Cody Deaner on his “Wrestling is Life is Wrestling” podcast. Spears initially wrestled for WWE from 2006-2009, then returned in 2013 where he remained until his departure in 2019. He spoke about what led to his return, crediting CM Punk for helping him get re-signed.
So, I made good friends with Cody [Rhodes] who’s one of my closest friends to this day… I met guys like [CM] Punk there … [and] Joey Mercury. And, the reason why I bring those guys up is because in my quest to get back [to the WWE] in those 4 and a half years [after I was released the first time] I still kept in contact with the Codys and the Punks and the Mercurys… just checking in. An opportunity came up to for another tryout and the only reason I got that was because CM Punk, who was the world champion at the time, put my name [on a list]. He was asked for 10 guys on the indies who he thought should be signed and he put my name on that list. I didn’t get back into that tryout because I’d been killing it on the indies. I was just pretty much primarily working in Canada. I wasn’t making waves anywhere else. I didn’t work for any other companies. I got back there because the connections and context I had made my first time around [with guys like CM Punk].
Spears signed with AEW in 2019 and has remained there ever since. He has been absent from television for the last few months. You can check out the full interview below.