Shawn Spears names CM Punk as one of the reasons why he was able to get re-signed by WWE.
Shawn Spears, previously known as Tye Dillinger in WWE, had a number of runs with the company including a developmental run in the mid-2000s that saw him play the role of Stan, the man who was Superkicked by Shawn Michaels at WWE Cyber Sunday 2006.
Recently, Spears appeared on Cody Deaner's podcast “Wrestling is, Life is Wrestling.” During the discussion, Spears spoke about how the connections he made along the way in his first run in developmental allowed him to get a second chance.
“That's where the professionalism aspect of what we do really really comes into play. So, I made good friends with Cody [Rhodes] who's one of my closest friends to this day… I met guys like [CM] Punk there… [and] Joey Mercury," he said. "The reason why I bring those guys up is because in my quest to get back [to the WWE] in those 4 and a half years [after I was released the first time] I still kept in contact with the Codys and the Punks and the Mercurys… just checking in. An opportunity came up to for another tryout and the only reason I got that was because CM Punk, who was the world champion at the time, put my name [on a list]. He was asked for 10 guys on the indies who he thought should be signed and he put my name on that list.
"I didn't get back into that tryout because I'd been killing it on the indies. I was just pretty much primarily working in Canada. I wasn't making waves anywhere else. I didn't work for any other companies. I got back there because of the connections and context I had made my first time around [with guys like CM Punk],” he added.
Today, Shawn Spears and Tyler Breeze run their own training school, Flatbacks. Now, they help the next generation of performers.
CM Punk himself recently came back to WWE after almost a decade. In his return promo on Monday Night Raw, he stated that he returned home and that almost everybody was happy to see him. Learn more here.
Thanks to Deaner's team for sending out the above quote.
