Could a return to WWE be on the horizon for a current AEW star?
A clip from the 2017 Royal Rumble match was recently posted to social media, highlighting the surprise entrance of Tye Dillinger into the match. The man known as The Perfect 10 in NXT would enter the match in the 10th spot, much to the delight of the fans in attendance.
Now going by the name of Shawn Spears in All Elite Wrestling, the former NXT star would quote the video with a tease of a future surprise entrance in the rumble match:
Hmmmm… run it back?
Hmmmm… run it back? 😏🙌🏻🙌🏻 https://t.co/2uGxfBPaVG
— Shawn Spears™️ (@ShawnSpears) March 19, 2023
Shawn Spears Hints At Move From AEW To WWE
In what looked to be an unprecedented idea back in 2020, those in the wrestling industry have made the decision to not re-sign with AEW and instead make the move to WWE. This first took place at WrestleMania 38, where Cody Rhodes was the first man to make the move in the other direction, being announced as a surprise opponent for Seth Rollins.
Most notably during the height of the pandemic, All Elite Wrestling would be the ones picking up free agents from WWE, with multiple Superstars being the victims of budget cuts. Multiple rounds of mass releases would take place, with some now being brought back into the company following the appointment of Triple H as the head of creative.
Following the surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble match, Tye Dillinger would be called up to the main roster in April. Following a stint on SmackDown, Dillinger would publicly request his release in February 2019, which was granted by the company.
Dillinger would move become All Elite later that year, wrestling under the name of Shawn Spears and wrestling at the inaugural pay-per-view, Double or Nothing. Spears would later align himself with MJF and FTR, forming The Pinnacle faction.
Spears would revive the Perfect 10 persona on the October 12th edition of Dynamite, but has not been seen on TV since. Spears has taken time away from TV due to himself and wife Cassie Lee [FKA Peyton Royce in WWE] welcoming their first child into the world in January 2023.