10 AEW Wrestlers Who Teamed With WWE Champions

4. Shawn Spears

Curry Man Bryan Danielson
WWE

There was tremendous lived-in intent behind the "player/coach" tag Cody Rhodes slapped on Shawn Spears when he first signed for All Elite Wrestling.

The line was designed to incite rage in his fellow WWE developmental survivor, informing the brutal chair shot on the EVP that kicked off Spears' first feud in the company. He loathed being a journeyman, but christ he's been on a journey, man.

He'd teamed with Cody during their FCW days before wrestling just about everybody that came through the Performance Center doors during a long, long NXT run, but hw was also partnered up with Dolph Ziggler during their time in Tampa.

The pair struck gold with one tag team title win, though Ziggler wasn't long for the league before his main roster handshake push came calling. It thankfully wouldn't prove to be the - ahem - pinnacle of either man's careeer, but at least Spears has finally found his.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett