Shawn Spears: There Is A Lot Of Thought And Effort Put Into Long-Term Storytelling With Shawn Michaels

Shawn Spears reflects on what he’s learned from working with Shawn Michaels in NXT. 

Since returning to WWE, Shawn Spears has been working in WWE NXT. He’s not only working on camera but also behind the scenes. As such, he spends a lot of time with Shawn Michaels and now gets to reflect on what he’s learned from HBK. 

Spears recently revealed during an interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight that Shawn Michaels puts a great deal of emphasis on long-term storytelling.

“One of my favorite things about professional wrestling is long-term storytelling. I don’t have to be able to follow along every single week. If I can, great, but if I’m able to go back and connect dots, that’s my favorite. I’m the same way with movies. If I piece it together in the end and go, ‘Woah, I did not see that coming.’ With him and his team here, there is a lot of thought and effort put into long-term storytelling. Not a lot of rushing of things. Slow character development. Drawn out character decisions,” said Spears. “The other thing I enjoy is there is a lot of freedom to let the audience see for themselves. Let the audience make some decisions. It’s okay if they start leaning one way. Wonderful. If they lean the other way. Wonderful. We’re just going to see what happens. That’s the beautiful thing about someone who has experience.” 

Spears further reflected on the freedom that he had in AEW and compared it to the ability to bounce ideas off of a legend like Shawn Michaels while still retaining most of that freedom in NXT.

“In AEW, I had a lot of freedom. Anything I ever said, whether it be live in front of the audience or backstage, I wrote myself,” he said. “I said it and didn’t have to clear it with anybody. Here, there is still that freedom, but because I can’t see as far down the line as Shawn Michaels can, I’ll go, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ He’ll go, ‘Not bad, what do you think of this?’ I go, ‘Hmmm.’ I’m very envious of that mindset. I’m not going to get it. I’m never going to get it, but if I can pull from those ideas and experiences that he has had, I can at least understand it, and more importantly, pass it to younger talent. Kids at the school come in and go, ‘I want to wrestle for WWE.’ ‘Great. That’s wonderful. Here’s the ideas now,’ which will evolve with time, but ‘here is the mindset.’ It’s information I can take in, try to apply to the best of my ability, but more importantly, I pass it down the line. Those are the biggest things I’m taking away from him.” 

At this link, fans can learn more about the famous segment from WWE Cyber Sunday 2006, where HBK kicked Shawn “Stan” Spears. 

Learn more about Shawn Spears’ backstage role in NXT here.

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