Shawn Spears On the Chair Shot To Cody, The Chairman Character, Leaving WWE And More
Photo Credit: All Elite Wrestling
Shawn Spears recently appeared on The Chris Van Vliet Show and discussed several topics, from the chair shot to Cody to “The Chairman” character and more. Here are some highlights:
On the moment he saw that Cody was bleeding from the chair shot:
Spears: “I swang [sic] for the fences, he leaned in, and just that one little bit caught him. I didn’t know he was bleeding. That’s because I kinda had a moment with Brandi [Rhodes], where I looked at her and kinda had a staredown with her. And I looked at him to get that one more shot and I saw the red and I was like, ‘S&*%’ In terms of storyline, it came off best case scenario. Personally, the guy’s a very good friend of mine, I don’t wanna put 10 staples in his head. But it is wrestling, things happen, I’m pretty sure I’ll be on the tail end of a bad shot at some point.”
On the chairshot to Cody:
Spears: “The chairshot to the head was what, A) put me on the map in that company, at that time, as a monster villain and kind of turned things from this happy-go-lucky ‘Perfect 10’ thing to, ‘Oh, ok, wow, that’s what we’re getting.’ And that’s where ‘The Chairman’ thing was born, so I just kinda kept it, ran with it, and have yet hit someone in the head once again, so it’s a moniker, it’s a tagline that hangs with me for the moment. In terms of what’s gonna happen, I might swing it again soon.”
On how much happier he is now than he was a year ago:
Spears: “It’s night and day. And I don’t mean that to dog on anybody else because, where I was before, that machine is just gonna keep moving, it’s gonna keep moving with or without you. It’s a clear-cut case, it’s continued on without Tye Dillinger, and it will continue on without anybody. John Cena left, you know what I mean? Business still rolls on. It’s just the environment that I allowed myself mentally to get into while I was there. It wasn’t the company. It was just, I wasn’t happy being where I was there. So I needed to take ownership. They can’t change to work around you, you need to take ownership of your own situation. And that’s the thing. A lot of people are afraid to take that first leap. That first leap can change everything, you’ve just gotta take that first step. But I am night and day happier and things have gotten better. But I’ll be honest with you, I was scared that it wouldn’t. I was petrified to leave. That was the only place I wanted to be since I was a kid. And then you’re making really good money, and your wife works there, and you’re sitting there going ‘Am I doing the right thing?’ You question yourself a million times. That’s why it was like a six-month process.”
The full interview is available below, and the audio version is available on Spotify and other podcast streaming services: