Shawn Spears gave longtime WWE fans a serious nostalgia hit when he brought back his old Perfect 10 entrance theme during a recent NXT live event.
Spears competed at WWE NXT’s live event in Kitchener, Ontario, on October 15, where he teamed with Shiloh Hill, Tavion Heights and Tony D’Angelo in a multi-man tag team match against BirthRight. The surprise came before the bell even rang, as Spears made his entrance using the theme associated with his old Tye Dillinger character and the Perfect 10 gimmick that became a major part of his rise through NXT beginning in 2015.
The character became especially popular with NXT fans thanks to the constant “10” chants that followed Dillinger everywhere, eventually becoming one of the most recognizable crowd reactions of that era.
Spears eventually left WWE before returning to the company in 2024, making a surprise comeback on NXT after several years away. His WWE return also came with a major shift in presentation, as he dropped the Tye Dillinger identity and continued working under the Shawn Spears name. Since returning, Spears has formed The Culling on NXT, with Niko Vance and Izzi Dame remaining connected to the group.
That makes the sudden return of the Perfect 10 theme especially interesting. WWE live events are often used to experiment with entrances, characters and crowd reactions, so one nostalgic entrance doesn’t automatically mean Spears is about to become Tye Dillinger again on television.
Whether this was just a one-night throwback or the first hint of WWE leaning back into Spears’ Perfect 10 history remains to be seen. Either way, hearing that theme again was enough to instantly take longtime NXT fans back to one of the most popular versions of his WWE career.
Would you like to see Shawn Spears bring the Perfect 10 character back to NXT television, or should WWE keep him focused on his current role with The Culling? Let us know what you think in the comments.
