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As 2024 ushers in an exciting year for professional wrestling, it seems that a now-released AEW star is looking to bring back their old gimmick from their time in WWE.
Former AEW talent Shawn Spears recently confirmed on social media that he had chosen to part ways with the Jacksonville-based promotion after a four year tenure. Today he shared a post on X that teases a revival of his "Perfect 10" gimmick from WWE, where he wrestled as Tye Dillinger.
Spears was last seen on AEW programming unsuccessfully participating in the Over Budget Charity Battle Royal at pre-show of All Out 2023, Zero Hour. The former WWE superstar incidentally had made his debut for the company as a competitor in the Casino Battle Royale in the company's inaugural pay-per-view, Double or Nothing. His run in the promotion had its ups and downs, including by matches with the likes of Cody Rhodes, Jon Moxley and CM Punk.
After the dissolution of the Pinnacle - the faction created by MJF to wage war against Chris Jericho and his Inner Circle - Spears disappeared from television for a period of time. Despite returning to team with FTR a few months later, Spears did not feature often on screen. Now that his contract is up, Spears has become a free-agent, and it seems like a return to WWE may be on his mind. The caption of his tweet, "Day 1", is also a reference to WWE's forthcoming event, to be held on January 1, 2024, which leads to speculations as to whether Spears might make an appearance in the event.
Andrade El Idolo may be leaving AEW for WWE
Another AEW star who may be heading to WWE imminently is Andrade El Idolo, who wrestled his final match for the promotion against Miro in the 2023 pay-per-view, World's End.
AEW President and Head of Creative Tony Khan confirmed in the Press Scrum for World's End that Andrade is unlikely to renew his contract with the promotion. He went on to declare his respect for the former WWE US Champion, praising his performance in the Continental Classic and affirming that they were parting ways amicably:
"Somebody I really respect, and I don't expect to see necessarily as it stands right now renewing the contract, but somebody that I have a great amount of respect for and would be parting on good terms, and was here and did wrestle tonight, is Andrade El Idolo. Andrade El Idolo's contract is up at the end of the year. We have had great talks, [and] I have a ton of respect for Andrade El Idolo," he said.
A recent update from PWI lends weight to the prospect of the former NXT Champion's return to the Stanford-based promotion. It reports that Andrade is expected to return "as soon as Monday", on the basis that some appearances he had scheduled with GCW have been cancelled.
Could Shawn Spears or Andrade El Idolo show up on WWE's Day One? Could there be any WWE talent looking to jump to AEW in the near future? Let us know in the comments below.
