Exclusive: AEW’s Shawn Spears talks Blood and Guts, tag partner search and Mike Tyson beatdown
Shawn Spears will be competing in AEW's first ever Blood and Guts match tonight (May 5) alongside his teammates in The Pinnacle against The Inner Circle.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy ahead of the big match, Shawn said: "This is a fight between two sides, it's not going to be exactly the professional wrestling you might be accustomed to seeing every week or every Wednesday night.
"This is about brutality, not flipping round. This is going to be a real real fight."
The match, which follows the War Games concept, was originally set to take place last year between The Inner Circle and The Elite before the pandemic put plans on hold.
When asked about why now was the right time to have the match, Spears echoed the words of one of his opponents, Chris Jericho, who laid out his reasoning to Digital Spy last month.
"Could we have started with a five on five, 10-man tag match? Sure," Spears said. "But if you look at what's happened in the past months, things have gotten very heated very quickly.
"Behind the scenes guys don't get along, they don't like each other. So things have kind of amped up to a point where no other match is fitting other than Blood and Guts.
"Who knows how much bigger this rivalry is going to get. If Blood and Guts is the first match out of the gate in this feud, imagine what the possibilities could be."
As The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle's feud heated up, Spears found himself in the ring with Mike Tyson, taking a brutal beating from the boxing legend.
"I'm going to point out the fact that I took many shots from Mike Tyson and I'm still breathing," Spears said.
"I like to think I lasted much longer than some of his former opponents, hands down. So did I stand toe-to-toe with Mike Tyson? Absolutely. Did I fight Mike Tyson? Absolutely. So Iron Mike, you're welcome to come back to AEW anytime. After we're done with the Inner Circle, Iron Mike's next on the list."
Last year, long before The Pinnacle came into existence, Spears launched a search for a tag team partner, asking fans to send in audition tapes.
But Spears ultimately never found a partner and the storyline was abandoned due to the pandemic.
"The Search for Spears was a legitimate thing," he explained. "That was something that was my brainchild and it was a great way for AEW to see talent when we were traveling to different cities.
"Of course, when the pandemic hit and everything kind of shut down, that had to obviously go away."
But despite being a fan of the idea, Spears admits he's happy it didn't work out. "Had I found a tag partner then I might not have been in the position to be in The Pinnacle.
"A couple of weeks after that stopped [MJF] and I were sitting at ringside and we started having a conversation, so I think it was a blessing in disguise to have the Search for Spears come to an abrupt halt.
"I'm 100% glad I didn't find a tag partner because now I have five guys on my side and we are head and shoulders above everybody else and right now with the Inner Circle, this is the hottest angle in professional wrestling today."
AEW Dynamite airs Thursdays at 1am on Fite TV in the UK and on Fridays at 11pm on ITV4.
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