Shawn Spears
 |
| Ronnie Arneill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 19, 1981 St. Catharines, Ontario |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Shawn Spears |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Billed from | Niagara Falls, Ontario |
| Trained by | Eric Young |
| Debut | March 2001 |
Ronnie William Arneill (born February 19, 1981), better known as Shawn Spears is a Canadian professional wrestler, currently training in Ohio Valley Wrestling under a WWE developmental contract.
Early life
Born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario, Ronnie was an avid hockey lover, but eventually chose wrestling over hockey as a child.
Already a licensed casino dealer in Canada, Ronie moved to Cambridge to try his hand at wrestling. In 2001, he made his decision to study wrestling with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestler Eric Young at the Wrestleplex training school.
Career
Ronnie’s first match was in March 2001. Since then, Ronnie has wrestled for some of the biggest independent wrestling promotions throughout Ontariohdfh and the United States, including Neo Spirit Pro (NSP), Border City Wrestling (BCW), World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW), Empire State Wrestling (ESW), Canadian Independent Championship Wrestling (CIWA), and New Vision Pro (NVPW), Pure Wrestling Association (PWA), Great Canadian Wrestling (GCW), Adrenaline Live Wrestling (ALW), Blood, Sweat & Ears and various other promotions. In February 2005, Ronnie got his first taste of the WWE when he wrestled a tag team match against Rosey and The Hurricane on an edition of WWE HEAT.
On January 21, 2006, Ronnie signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and recently reported to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He wrestled his last match in Ontario for Great Canadian Wrestling May 11 2006 taking part in a three way dance for the GCW National title in a match also involving the GCW National Champion, Michael Elgin and TNA's Shark Boy.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Arniell made his OVW TV debut as "The Canadian Sensation" Shawn Spears and picked up a huge win over then-SmackDown! superstar Simon Dean. Despite his huge win, Simon Dean beat up Spears after the match. Spears was then saved by Al Snow, who was then beat down with a chair by Dean. Since his debut in OVW, Shawn Spears has already made a big impact by kickstarting his OVW career with 3 wins and no losses. However, Spears was given his first loss by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens when Stevens used his new submission finisher known as the Downer Clutch. After this, Spears formed a tag team with Cody Runnels, the youngest son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes, and they feuded with The Throwbacks for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championships. On December 15, 2006, Shawn Spears and Cody Runnels won the titles from The Throwbacks.
On March 17, 2007 Shawn Spears won the OVW Television Championship from Boris Alexiev. Afterwards, he became more focused and greedy on championship titles then anything, even trying to steal Runnels' OVW Heavyweight Championship title shot. This greediness started to peak after the team lost the OVW Tag Team Titles, leaving Spears with only his OVW TV Title. He would later deliver a piledriver to his former partner, preventing him from winning the OVW Heavyweight Championship, thus, finally turning heel. Spears lost the OVW Television Championship to Runnels on July 6, 2007 and won it back one week later. He once again lost the title on September 19 to the debuting Manbeast, who now goes under the name Ted "The Trailer" McNailer. Spears regained the TV Title, only to lose it to Colt Cabana, who he then went on to re-win the Tag Team titles with.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves[1]
- With Cody Runnels
References
Championships and accomplishments
- Adrenaline Live Wrestling
- ALW Georgian Bay Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Canadian Independent Wrestling Alliance
- CIWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Great Lakes Championship Wrestling
- GLCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Flex Falcone
- Neo Spirit Pro Wrestling
- NSPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with J.T. Playa
- OVW Television Championship (3 times)
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Cody Runnels (2) and Colt Cabana
- Pure Wrestling Association
- PWA Pure Wrestling Championship (1 time)