Early career (2002–2006) Arneill trained at the Hart Wrestling School in Cambridge Ontario with Smith Hart, Ike Shaw and Waldo Von Erich and then with
Eric Young at the WrestlePlex
school before receiving further training from Derek Wylde and
Cody Deaner.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2006–2009) After sending a tape to World Wrestling Entertainment (
WWE) officials, Arneill was called for a try-out in
Buffalo, New York. On December 15, 2006, Spears and Runnels won the title from The Throwbacks. On March 17, 2007, Spears won the
OVW Television Championship from
Boris Alexiev, his first singles title in OVW. Soon after winning the title, he became more focused on championships and even began trying to steal Runnels'
OVW Heavyweight Championship opportunity. During Runnels' OVW Heavyweight Championship match, Spears interfered and performed a
piledriver to Runnels, preventing him from winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship and thus solidifying his
heel turn. Spears then began
feuding with Runnels and eventually lost the OVW Television Championship to him on July 6, 2007 before winning it back one week later. He once again lost the title on September 19 to the debuting Ted "Manbeast" McNailer. Spears later regained the OVW Television Championship only to lose it to
Colt Cabana. Spears then began feuding with Cabana and the pair went on to win the vacant
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship with on November 7 after defeating
Paul Burchill and
Stu Sanders. On December 19, Cabana and Spears' feud culminated in a
ladder match in which the winner would claim the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship for themselves and choose a new partner. Spears lost to Cabana, who then chose Charles "The Hammer" Evans as his new tag team partner. After OVW split with WWE, Spears debuted in WWE's new
development territory,
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), and teamed up with
Nic Nemeth to defeat The Puerto Rican Nightmares for the
FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on August 17. Nearly a month later, Nemeth and Spears lost the title to
Joe Hennig and
Heath Miller on September 11. After his
ECW debut, Spears began splitting time between ECW and FCW. On the September 2 edition of
ECW, Spears was defeated by
Super Crazy. After a three-month absence due to competing in FCW, Spears returned to television on the December 16 episode of
ECW, where he lost to
Finlay in what turned out to be his final match for the company. On January 9, 2009, Arneill was released from his contract.
Independent circuit (2009–2013) The day before he had been released from WWE, Arneill had broken his hand, and was unable to wrestle for 12 weeks following his release as a result. On June 12, Spears made an appearance for
Ring of Honor (ROH), where he defeated Alex Payne. On May 16, 2010, Arneill, under his Gavin Spears ring name, teamed up with
El Hijo de L.A. Park in a losing effort to Dr. Wagner III and Gigante Extassis on an Extreme Air Wrestle show in Mexico, marking his first tour of Mexico. On May 28 and 29, Arneill made appearances at the 2010
Anime North convention. On August 15, he teamed up with
Idol Stevens to capture the
WWC World Tag Team Championship after defeating
Thunder and Lightning. On October 31, Spears and Stevens lost the World Tag Team Title back to Thunder and Lightning.
Return to WWE (2013–2019) NXT (2013–2017) On September 15, 2013, it was reported that Spears had re-signed with
WWE, and he was assigned to WWE's
developmental territory NXT under the ring name Tye Dillinger. He made his televised
NXT debut in a losing effort against
Mojo Rawley. In early 2014, Dillinger formed a tag team with
Jason Jordan, with the two described as a pair of
blue chip athletes. The team of Dillinger and Jordan got their first televised win on the April 17 episode of
NXT, defeating
Baron Corbin and
Sawyer Fulton. On the June 5 episode of
NXT, Dillinger and Jordan defeated
local competitors. On the August 7 episode of
NXT, Dillinger and Jordan lost in the first round of a
NXT Tag Team Championship tournament to
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. Dillinger and Jordan then appeared infrequently together, with Dillinger mostly being used as
enhancement talent. On the February 25, 2015 episode of
NXT, Dillinger's partnership with Jordan officially ended when Jordan, unhappy with his partner not initially tagging him in, jumped off the apron and walked out on Dillinger just as he went to make the tag. After the match, an enraged Dillinger called out his old partner but instead was met with a quick loss to Baron Corbin. On the September 28, 2016 episode of
NXT, Dillinger was approached by
Bobby Roode, who proposed the two team up for the
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, which Dillinger accepted. On the October 12 episode of
NXT, Roode walked out on Dillinger during a tag team match against
SAnitY (
Alexander Wolfe and Sawyer Fulton), resulting in the team losing in the first round. The following week on
NXT, Dillinger called out Roode for a match at
NXT TakeOver: Toronto, thus turning
face in the process. At the event, Dillinger lost to Roode. On the December 14 episode of
NXT, Dillinger defeated
Eric Young by disqualification in a number one contender's Fatal 4-Way qualifying match. At
NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, Dillinger was defeated by Young following a distraction from Alexander Wolfe and
Killian Dain. At
NXT TakeOver: Orlando, Dillinger teamed up with
Roderick Strong,
Kassius Ohno and
Ruby Riot to take on SAnitY in an 8-person
mixed tag team match in a losing effort. Dillinger made his last NXT appearance on the April 5 tapings, closing out the event by winning a
Steel Cage match against Eric Young.
SmackDown (2017–2019) On January 29, 2017, at
Royal Rumble, Dillinger was a surprise entrant in the
Royal Rumble match, entering at number 10 but was eliminated by
Braun Strowman. Dillinger entered a short feud with
Aiden English, defeating him on various episodes of
SmackDown Live, leading to matches at
Backlash and
Battleground, where Dillinger was defeated. He also participated on three matches for AJ Style's United States Championship, but he didn't win the title. He also participated on the PPVs
Fastlane,
WrestleMania 34, and, his final pay-per-view appearance, the
Greatest Royal Rumble. Dillinger suffered a hand injury in October 2018 which kept him out of action for several months. He returned to in-ring competition at a
house show on February 9, 2019; however, he was still not used on television. On February 19, 2019, Dillinger announced in a
Twitter statement that he had requested his release from WWE and was granted on February 22, 2019.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2023) "The Chairman of AEW" (2019–2020) Arneill, under his previous name of Shawn Spears, debuted for
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) at their inaugural pay-per-view event
Double or Nothing, competing in the pre-show
Casino Battle Royale that
Adam Page won. In an interview with
Sports Illustrated, Spears stated he would be appearing with the promotion going forward. AEW officially announced his signing on June 12. At
Fyter Fest in June, Spears established himself as a heel after hitting
Cody with a steel chair shot to the top of the head, which legitimately drew blood after a mistake. Going forward he began calling himself "The Chairman of AEW". At
All Out on August 31, Spears unsuccessfully faced Cody in a singles match. Leading to All Out, Spears aligned with
Tully Blanchard, who began acting as his manager. Spears then started a feud with
Joey Janela, after Janela had disrespected Blanchard. At
Full Gear on November 9, Spears defeated Janela. In February 2020, Blanchard and Spears began a campaign to recruit a new tag team partner for Spears. However, the angle was soon dropped due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly after, Spears was used primarily in a comedic role as he mocked
Dustin Rhodes and the Rhodes family in a news report parody segment and challenged Dustin Rhodes to a match at
Double or Nothing. At Double or Nothing, Spears had his clothes ripped off and was defeated by Dustin Rhodes. On the June 3 episode of
Dynamite, Blanchard returned and berated Spears for making a joke out of himself at Double or Nothing. He then presented him with a black glove, similar to the one worn by
Blackjack Mulligan and
Ted DiBiase, that can be illegally loaded with a metal slug. Spears made his in-ring return on the June 16 edition of
Dark wearing the black glove, scoring a submission victory over Lee Johnson after applying the
Sharpshooter on Johnson. Over the months, Spears claimed victories over various competitors, then knocked them out with his loaded black glove. He later disposed of the glove after an interview with AEW commentator
Tony Schiavone. In October, Spears began a short feud against
Scorpio Sky after taunting him several times before his matches. On the November 11 episode of
Dynamite, Spears defeated Sky, ending their feud.
The Pinnacle, sporadic appearances and departure (2020–2023) After the December 23 episode of
Dynamite, Spears was absent from AEW television, but was present on the stage for the
ten-bell salute during the
Brodie Lee Celebration of Life on December 30. He made his return on March 3, reuniting with Blanchard and
FTR by helping them defeat
Jurassic Express. On March 10, Spears, Blanchard and FTR joined a faction led by MJF, later known as
The Pinnacle. The Pinnacle began a feud with
The Inner Circle, defeating them in a
Blood and Guts match at
Blood and Guts before losing in a
Stadium Stampede match at
Double or Nothing. In early 2022, the Pinnacle began to dissolve. Spears continued aligning himself with MJF in the latter's feud against Wardlow. Spears lost to Wardlow on the May 25 episode of
Dynamite in a steel cage match, with MJF as special guest referee. Spears returned on the October 12 episode of
Dynamite in Toronto as a face, reverting to his "Perfect 10" gimmick from WWE. During the
Zero Hour pre-show of
All Out 2023, he participated in the Over The Budget Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Aussie Open. On December 23, Spears announced his departure from AEW, becoming a free agent on January 1, 2024.
Second return to WWE (2024–present) At
NXT Vengeance Day on February 4, 2024, a mysterious vignette was played. Arneill made his return to WWE in the February 27 episode of
NXT, attacking
Ridge Holland with a steel chair. Instead of returning as Tye Dillinger, he kept the Shawn Spears name as well as his "Chairman" gimmick from AEW. Spears defeated
Uriah Connors on March 5 at
NXT: Roadblock. Spears wrestled for the
NXT Championship in a
fatal four-way match at
NXT Heatwave, which was won by Ethan Page. He began a storyline where he became
Brooks Jensen's mentor and formed a stable with
Izzi Dame and
Niko Vance called
The Culling. On the March 4 episode of
NXT, Spears defeated Tony D'Angelo to win the
NXT North American Championship. On the April 1 episode of
NXT, Spears lost the title to
Ricky Saints despite interference from The Culling, ending his reign at 28 days. On the July 22 episode of
NXT, The Culling (Spears, Vance, Dame and
Tatum Paxley) defeated
NXT Tag Team Champions Hank and Tank (
Hank Walker and
Tank Ledger),
Zaria, and
WWE Speed Women's and
NXT Women's North American Champion Sol Ruca in an
eight-person mixed tag team match in The Culling's first match as a whole stable. ==Other media==