Shawn Spears recently appeared on The Chris Van Vliet Show and discussed several topics, from the chair shot to Cody to “The Chairman” character and more. Here are some highlights:
On the moment he saw that Cody was bleeding from the chair shot:
Spears: “I swang [sic] for the fences, he leaned in, and just that one little bit caught him. I didn’t know he was bleeding. That’s because I kinda had a moment with Brandi [Rhodes], where I looked at her and kinda had a staredown with her. And I looked at him to get that one more shot and I saw the red and I was like, ‘S&*%’ In terms of storyline, it came off best-case scenario. Personally, the guy’s a very good friend of mine, I don’t wanna put 10 staples in his head. But it is wrestling, things happen, I’m pretty sure I’ll be on the tail end of a bad shot at some point.”
On the chairshot to Cody:
Spears: “The chairshot to the head was what, A) put me on the map in that company, at that time, as a monster villain and kind of turned things from this happy-go-lucky ‘Perfect 10’ thing to, ‘Oh, ok, wow, that’s what we’re getting.’ And that’s where ‘The Chairman’ thing was born, so I just kinda kept it, ran with it, and have yet hit someone in the head once again, so it’s a moniker, it’s a tagline that hangs with me for the moment. In terms of what’s gonna happen, I might swing it again soon.”
On how much happier he is now than he was a year ago:
Spears: “It’s night and day. And I don’t mean that to dog on anybody else because, where I was before, that machine is just gonna keep moving, it’s gonna keep moving with or without you. It’s a clear-cut case, it’s continued on without Tye Dillinger, and it will continue on without anybody. John Cena left, you know what I mean? Business still rolls on. It’s just the environment that I allowed myself mentally to get into while I was there. It wasn’t the company. It was just, I wasn’t happy being where I was there. So I needed to take ownership. They can’t change to work around you, you need to take ownership of your own situation. And that’s the thing. A lot of people are afraid to take that first leap. That first leap can change everything, you’ve just gotta take that first step. But I am night and day happier and things have gotten better. But I’ll be honest with you, I was scared that it wouldn’t. I was petrified to leave. That was the only place I wanted to be since I was a kid. And then you’re making really good money, and your wife works there, and you’re sitting there going ‘Am I doing the right thing?’ You question yourself a million times. That’s why it was like a six-month process.”
The full interview is available below, and the audio version is available on Spotify and other podcast streaming services:
