Shawn Spears Opens Up About 'Tough' Year That Resulted In Time Off From AEW

Shawn Spears has been regularly featured on AEW programming since the company's launch in 2019, but he was largely absent throughout the second half of 2022. During a recent appearance on "Insight," Spears opened up about his challenging year that led to his hiatus.

"Last year was tough. I lost my mom last August," Spears said. "We kind of knew it was coming, but then it happened very suddenly. At the same time, Cassie was five-and-a-half to six months pregnant, so I'm like expecting and losing at the same time." To add to the difficulty of the situation, Spears explained that he lived in Florida and his mother's estate, as well as all of his family, was in Canada. He added, "I didn't have a chance to mourn because I'm here and not with them, and you're going home quick and you have to get back to your wife. It was just a lot and AEW's been very good about allowing me that time."

When AEW made their Toronto debut in October, Spears returned for the night to team with FTR in victory over The Embassy on "AEW Rampage." The 42-year-old recently returned to action again when he took on "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry on the April 14 episode of "Rampage."

Spears noted that he's hopefully back on the road with AEW going forward and has "sent some feelers out" to "get the wheels in motion," presumably from a creative standpoint. Prior to his hiatus that began in the spring, Spears was venturing out as a singles competitor again in the wake of Wardlow turning on MJF.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.