Shawn Spears on Taking His Career Into His Own Hands, Addresses AEW Going Against NXT on Wednesdays

– Muscle and Fitness recently interviewed AEW wrestler Shawn Spears, who discussed joining AEW, his thoughts on AEW going against NXT on TV every week, and more. Below are some highlights.

Shawn Spears on his strength and conditioning training: “The older I’ve gotten, and as much time that I have spent in the wrestling industry, coming on nearly 18 years now, and the taxing effect that has put on my body, it’s changed over the years. I train pretty much daily now, and especially with opening a [pro wrestling] school in Florida, you know, we’re in the ring anywhere from three to five days per week. I’m also in the gym on a regular basis, and I have a gym inside my house as well, so I’m covered in all areas but every day I am doing some kind of physical activity.”

Spears on what he’s learned about himself since his debut in WWE’s ECW 11 years ago: “Wow, really? It goes by so fast. It’s wild to think about it. I think the biggest thing that I have learned about myself is that I don’t stop, I don’t quit. There’s been a lot of times in my career where if I did walk away from pro wrestling, many people would understand. But I’ve always had this belief in myself, or this gut feeling, whatever you wanna call it, that if I hung on long enough, something would eventually roll my way, and that’s exactly what has happened with AEW. You never know how close you are to actually accomplishing something. I feel a lot of people [in life], a lot of people let go or give up just before they really hit their moment and turn everything around.”

Spears on his excitement in being part of AEW: “You said exactly what it is, an alternative product. We are beyond excited to bring something new. The tide raises all ships, you know? AEW is that tide, whether anyone wants to admit it or not. I’ll say it loud and proud: AEW has raised the bar. Everyone is doing better, because they have come along. They are so excited to showcase their product, and their talent, to the loyal fan base that it has built to this point. We’ve already started, but we hit the ground running on August 31st, (with All Out) and then one month later we go worldwide (with regular television) on a worldwide basis. AEW is changing the game.”

Shawn Spears on working with Tully Blanchard: “If you would have told me six months ago, a year ago that I would be in another company, that I would be standing alongside Tully Blanchard, that I would be in one of the co-main events for All Out, I would have said you are absolutely crazy. But this is a crazy industry, and it changes. And now I find myself standing alongside arguably, one quarter of the greatest faction (The Four Horsemen). I went out to San Antonio about a month ago, and that’s where Tully lives. I was able to spend the day with him. I went to his house, we had dinner, and we actually went to the gym together as well. This guy is still a machine (at 65). He still does 500 squats per week, like he did back in the day with Ric Flair.”

“I heard a lot of stories [from Tully] about the Rhodes family, and their history and lineage, and about how Tully went to war with Dusty on a very regular basis, probably more than anybody else. This is why I enquired about his services to begin with, we are carrying on that tradition. I am carrying on the tradition, going to war with a Rhodes. That’s our focus and we are all business.”

Shawn Spears on taking his career into his own hands: “I take great pride in being able to work with anybody. Whether it be a brand-new talent, whether it be someone who has been in wrestling for four or five years, or even 15 to 20, I take pride in being able to cover the spectrum when it comes down to match preparation and execution. But that can also pigeonhole you, and I was pigeonholed for quite a long time. On one hand, I was very reliable when they needed something done. I was there and I got it done, but at the same time I couldn’t break through the glass ceiling that seemed to be placed over my head. Now, that has changed.”

“I have taken my career into my own hands, been given an opportunity to be on a worldwide platform (in AEW) with no restrictions. Now, this is all on me. Now there’s no more “Oh, well, maybe you are being held back or it’s not him it’s creative.” I want all that out of the way, I want everything to fall on my shoulders now. Regardless of what happens, when I’m seventy years old, I can look back and say that I did this the way I wanted to, on my terms, and I gave it everything I got.”

Shawn Spears on AEW being on weekly TV: “It’s monumental, historic. I was watching TNT yesterday and I’m seeing commercial after commercial for AEW. It is amazing to me that after almost 20 years, we are going to have an alternative wrestling product on a major station and I get to be a part of this. You know, I haven’t gotten to do many firsts in my career, I’m excited about that and if you’re not excited about that? There’s something wrong with ya. In terms of live TV, it is a different animal. It’s big and it moves very fast. It’s gonna be very interesting to me, and I’m excited to see how the young talent adapts to that. I do have quite a bit of television experience, as does Cody, and Kenny (Omega) and the Young Bucks. It will be a wonderful and very quick learning curve for a lot of young talent coming up in AEW. Sometimes it is better that way, to be thrown straight into the fire and find your way out, rather than just stand around. Overall, we’re feeling excited and we are ready, our audience is ready, and hopefully the world is ready.”

His thoughts on NXT going head-to-head with AEW: “I think no matter who is on, on whatever timeslot, everyone is going to be motivated regardless. We are gonna do our thing on Wednesday nights, we’re gonna tear it up and if you watch, fantastic, we think you are in for one hell of a treat and if you don’t watch, you are missing one hell of a show, it is really that simple. But that is the beautiful thing about providing an alternative, it benefits the audience. Not just the audience of AEW, or WWE, or Impact, or Ring of Honor, it benefits the everyday casual wrestling fan. You now have another option. I can’t speak for everybody, but we are not looking at it as a head-to-head competition, where we need to knock these guys out of the water, we are going to go out there and do our thing.”