Real Reason AEW Star Left & Joined WWE

AEW/WWE

Shawn Spears has commented on his WWE return, explaining why he chose to make an NXT comeback after leaving AEW.

The former “Tye Dillinger” shocked fans with his WWE return, attacking Ridge Holland on the February 27 edition of NXT.

Interestingly, Spears has kept the name he used outside of WWE with companies like AEW, rather than bringing back his Tye Dillinger moniker.

Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp for Fightful, Spears stated that even though he felt it was time to move on, it was very important to him to leave AEW on friendly terms.

Spears, who became a free agent in January, explained:

“It’s very important to me. I am somebody who, for whatever anybody wants to say about me throughout the course of the 20-plus (year) career that I’ve been doing this, one thing that’s going to be hard for them to say is that I have been unprofessional.

“I’m a very big believer that as a professional wrestler, that word professional is paramount, is key. It’s almost more important to me than the second word that comes into play. It was amicable, absolutely.

“It was just a time that I felt was best for me, best for my family, and as difficult as some decisions are, sometimes it’s nice to know that mutual respect can allow things to go smoothly, much smoothly than they may.” 

Detailing how his WWE return came to be, and how he kept his comeback a secret, Spears said:

“It was important to me to be able to come back to this company (WWE).

“That was the first big question, of whether or not that was a possibility and once the possibility was a definite possibility, then it became about what is the best course of action to take going forward.

“This was pretty much kept close to the chest. I didn’t tell a lot of friends, I didn’t tell a lot of close friends. I told my wife and I told her, ‘Do not tell your friends, don’t tell your best friends, don’t tell anybody.’ I didn’t tell my family, I didn’t tell anybody.

“The main people that knew was Hunter (Triple H) Shawn (Michaels), his team here and that was pretty much it. A lot of the coaching staff had no idea, the talent had zero idea.

“I was kept in a room for the majority of the day. It was just a matter of keeping things as tight-lipped as possible.”

Spears has wrestled twice since returning to WWE, defeating Uriah Connors at the March 3 NXT Roadblock show and pinning Ridge Holland on the March 12 NXT episode.

Transcription via Wrestling Inc. 

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• Shawn Spears
• Return
• AEW
• wwe

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