Tye Dillinger took to social media to reveal that he had asked for his release from WWE and much to the surprise of everyone, he was soon granted it. Now, the man known as Shawn Spears has shed some light on why he believes that happened when the company is forcing everyone else to stay there as long as possible.
"That’s tough to answer because no one else was granted their release. And it’s one of three things, maybe it was a mutual respect that I had built up with them. I was with them for eight and a half years total including my first time around. I did things right, I never got into any trouble. I was professional and I carried myself well and always did what I was asked to do. So that was one thing, the other thing is that statement that I put out later that evening on February 19th kind of handcuffed them a little bit.
"If they would have kept me, that might have made a lot of people unhappy. If they would have kept me and utilized me in a negative way or have me get killed on TV every week that would have made people upset. I think it put me in the best position possible to get what I was looking for. And the third possible reason is maybe they didn’t see anything in me and they go ‘You know what? We don’t see any value. It is time to go, so go ahead and to be honest with you I really hope it’s that one. I really, really do because that just fuels a little more fire."
It's easy to see where Spears is coming from and while most wrestlers would be upset that WWE didn't see any value in them, it appears as if he's using that to better himself and prove them wrong. As for his 90-day non-compete cause and how he was able to appear at All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing, he thinks WWE may have been doing him a favour.
"I asked for my release on my birthday, February 19th. I was verbally granted it on the Friday which was the 22nd or something but I needed the paperwork officially and I didn’t get that until the following week. Had they waited an extra 24 hours I would not have been able to do Double or Nothing so I think WWE was being gracious. They knew what was going on. I think they allowed me to be out at that time to do whatever I wanted to do including Double or Nothing. I could be completely wrong and it might have slipped their minds, I don’t know but I like to think that I had earned that mutual respect."
As of right now. Spears isn't signed to AEW so we're still not sure where he'll land. He is, of course, friends with Cody Rhodes so that could change. Ultimately, it depends whether the newly launched company is looking to add another former WWE Superstar to its ranks. What do you guys think?