23-year veteran snubs Shawn Michaels after winning first WWE title; backstage controversy sparks flames

The latest episode of WWE NXT featured an incredible title match between Shawn Spears and North American Champion Tony D’Angelo. The superstars unleashed the best spears from their arsenal.

After competing for several minutes and landing significant blows on each other, Shawn Spears gained momentum towards the end and executed his signature maneuver, C4, but only achieved a two-count. D’Angelo gathered his strength and attempted a pop-up, but his back failed him. Spears flipped him over and pinned Tony, becoming the new WWE North American Champion of the developmental brand.

Following his triumphant victory, everyone backstage was celebrating and filled with emotion for Shawn Spears. However, a viral clip has sparked controversy, as the new North American Champion ignored Shawn Michaels when the legend extended his hand to congratulate him.

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Shawn Spears won his first-ever title in the Stamford-based promotion. The 44-year-old star made his professional wrestling debut in 2002, joined WWE NXT in 2013 as Tye Dillinger, and, after a mediocre run, joined AEW in 2019. After announcing his departure from All Elite Wrestling, The Chairman returned to the pro-wrestling juggernaut in 2024, and the rest is history.

With tensions seemingly boiling between Spears and Michaels, it will be interesting to see the NXT star face problems after bluntly ignoring senior executive HBK.

About the author

Nayan is a WWE News and Features writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. After completing his bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Poddar International, he began working as a YouTube script writer. Nayan then transitioned to Pinkvilla as a combat sports writer. He gained valuable experience there before finally coming under the banner of Sportskeeda.

Within 1.5 years, Nayan has written over 1,000 articles, interviewed MFN promotion owners, and conducted a Twitter campaign that gained over 50k retweets and more. He puts fact-checking and mindful journalism above everything by applying a three-check method, where he tries to verify reports from reliable sources and cross-check whether other major publications have covered them.

Looking back at his association with pro wrestling, Nayan recalls being hooked on the sport after watching Shawn Michael vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 24. Since then, the product has been an inseparable part of his life.

Apart from The Heartbreak Kid being Nayan's favorite wrestler for his confidence and charisma, he is also a fan of Brock Lesnar due to The Beast's "work speaks louder than words" attitude.

Nayan can be found performing mixed martial arts and reading true crime in his free time.

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Edited by Angana Roy