Cody Rhodes Wishes THIS Ex-AEW Star Was With Him At WWE WrestleMania 40

The American Nightmare wishes this former AEW star was present for his big 'Mania moment.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE WrestleMania 40 Cody Rhodes Shawn Spears
WWE/AEW

While CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton, Jey Uso, LA Knight, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Seth Rollins were amongst those on-hand to take in the celebrations as Cody Rhodes closed out WrestleMania XL as the new Undisputed WWE Champion, one person the American Nightmare wishes was present for that moment is Shawn Spears.

Speaking on the Babyfaces podcast (via eWrestlingNews), Rhodes noted how he wouldn't be where he was without the help of Spears:

"During the Deuce-Domino-Cherry, during this rivalry [in OVW] I had no fundamental experience. I couldn't tell you a top wristlock from a double quarter. I had no fundamentals. But they didn't mind because they were teaching me from the story's perspective first. That's how Al [Snow] would like to teach, and Shawn was there to lead me through it, and he does not get enough credit from me for how special he is."

Cody added:

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"He is the only person I regret I didn't have in the ring after WrestleMania, because I saw him that day and we just took a picture together and he was just like he always was. He knew what this day was, he knew it was big and the opportunity to go and I could take it all if I wanted to, and gosh, dude, I wouldn't be where I'm at without Shawn Spears. He is a blessing to the business and I am so glad to see him in NXT."

As alluded to by Rhodes, he was paired up with Shawn Spears almost immediately after the second-generation star signed with WWE and was assigned to the Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental arm in 2006. There, the pair would have two runs as the OVW Southern Tag Team Champions, trading those belts with the aforementioned Deuce and Domino. That tandem would come to an end in 2007, with Cody being fast-tracked to the main roster to team with Bob Holly; a partnership that would see Rhodes turn on Holly to join up with Ted DiBiase Jr., which in itself was the first step towards what would become Legacy.

For Shawn Spears, he returned to the WWE fold in February as he laid out Ridge Holland during an episode of NXT. Prior to that, of course, Spears had been a part of AEW since 2020, with his All Elite contract expiring at the turn of this year.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.