In a new interview, NXT star Shawn Spears has confirmed that he's at the "last stop" of his career. He returned to WWE last February after a fairly disappointing run in AEW (no fault of his own) and, last week, won the NXT North American Championship.
Spears defeated Tony D'Angelo and intends to keep competing for as long as he possibly can.
"Right now, I feel good. I’m still moving, and I feel like I can still keep up with the younger kids," he explained. "I can still hang, but as long as it doesn’t disrupt any plans I have in the future with my kids, I’ll do it as long as I can."
"The beautiful thing is that even when I step back from on-screen performing as a professional wrestler, I’m still going to have the school, I’m still going to teach, and I’m still going to be actively in there because I believe the best way to learn is by hands-on teaching. That’s the way I was taught by Eric Young, and that’s the way I teach my kids now at the Performance Center and [his Flatbacks Wrestling school]."
"So I’ll always be a hands-on coach, and the day that I can’t be, then it’s probably time to pack it in," Spears continued. "I’m not going anywhere. This is the last stop."
When he was asked about a run on the main roster potentially not being in his future, the NXT North American Champion didn't seem to have an issue with the possibility of remaining in the company's developmental brand.
"It’s [WWE’s] call, but right now I’m very fulfilled, I’m very happy with where I am. I’m very happy with what I’m doing. I love this," he admitted. "The awesome thing for me is that everybody on the main roster right now, everybody in those top spots, I came up with to some degree - I’ve wrestled them somewhere."
Spears originally signed a deal with WWE in 2006 and wrestled for Ohio Valley Wrestling and ECW before the company released him in early 2009. He re-signed in 2013 and, after starting in NXT, the "Perfect 10" (then known as Tye Dillinger) arrived on RAW and SmackDown and faced mixed success thanks to Vince McMahon's dire booking.
He requested and was granted his release in 2019 and later signed with AEW where the hope was he might find a greater level of success. A highlight of that run was his feud with Cody Rhodes.
You can watch the full interview with Spears in the player below.