Despite being with WWE for over ten years, Shawn Spears rarely got much of an opportunity during his time with the company during his two stints.
Arguably, Spears' most success in the promotion comes down to his time in NXT; however, the 38-year-old was mostly known as enhancement talent on both the developmental and main roster brands, with no indication that Vince McMahon and company saw anything more than a good hand to put talent over.
The current AEW superstar spoke to
Muscle & Fitness about his tenure with the promotion and while Spears appreciates the opportunity to work in the WWE, he was unable to shake the feeling that he was never going to break through the glass ceiling that was placed over his head:
"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 (WWE) 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,"
Spears is happy that he finally gets to set the course of his career with AEW, and while there’s no guarantee that the Canada native will have huge success with the all-new promotion, he’s at least proud that he'll get to do things on his own terms:
"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," Spears said.