Shawn Spears, Formerly WWE's Tye Dillinger, Told Vince McMahon He Was 'Insulting Fans Intelligence'

First was Jon Moxley, then it was Batista, and now another former WWE talent has spoken about their own frustrations with WWE that led to their release.

This latest hit came from Shawn Spears, formerly known as Tye Dillinger in WWE. Spears appeared at AEW’s debut show, Double or Nothing, as part of the pre-show battle royal that was eventually won by “Hangman” Adam Page. It was then announced on Wednesday that Spears had officially signed with AEW.

On the same day, a new interview of Spears was released on YouTube, courtesy of YouTuber Chris Van Vliet.

In it, Spears spoke about his time at WWE, from his struggles and breakthrough in NXT to eventually requesting his release. Unlike Moxley and Batista, Spears is much more gracious to his time at WWE and respectful towards Vince McMahon. But while he is complimentary, he did reveal that he voiced his frustrations with Vince and the current state of the product.

“If you are watching the product and two guys come out and you’re able to already tell what the finish is of that match, based on entrances alone, that’s a problem,” Spears said. “They don’t care, they’re not invested.”

His feelings on this prompted Spears to go speak with Vince, saying that “with all due respect, I think we’re insulting their intelligence.” Spears also explains that, from his standpoint, it was about maintaining credibility for the audience to take someone seriously.