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Ronnie William Arniell (born February 19, 1981), better known by his ring name as Shawn Spears, is a Canadian professional wrestler, currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment under its ECW brand where wrestles under the name Gavin Spears.
Early life
Born and raised in St.Catharines, Ontario Canada, Ronnie was an avid hockey lover, but eventually chose wrestling over hockey as a child.
Already a licensed casino dealer in Canada, Ronnie moved to Cambridge to try his hand at wrestling. In 2001, he made his decision to study wrestling with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestler Showtime Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz) at the Wrestleplex training school.
The tattoo on his left shoulder was originally a replica of the brahma bull tattoo worn by The Rock in the same location.
Career
Ronnies first match was in March 2002. Since then, Ronnie has wrestled for some of the biggest independent wrestling promotions throughout Ontario 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, he signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and 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
Spears made appearances on WWE HEAT wrestling against the likes of Rosey, Hurricane Helms and Super Crazy.
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Arniell made his Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) TV debut as "The Canadian Sensation" Shawn Spears and picked up a win over then-SmackDown! superstar Simon Dean (Mike Bucci). Despite his victory, Dean beat up Spears after the match. Spears was then saved by Al Snow (Allen Sarven), who was then beat down with a chair by Dean. After his debut in OVW, Spears quickly made an impact by starting his OVW career with three wins and no losses. Spears was given his first loss by Aaron "The Idol" Stevens (Aaron Haddad) when Stevens made Spears submit after applying his new Downer Clutch finisher. After this, Spears formed a tag team with Cody Rhodes (Cody Runnels), the youngest son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels Jr), and they feuded with The Throwbacks for the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. On December 15, 2006, Spears and Runnels won the titles from The Throwbacks.
On March 17, 2007, 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.
ECW brand
On the August 19 edition of ECW, Spears made his television debut as part of Theodore Long's talent initiative in a losing effort to Ricky Ortiz. He then was defeated on the September 2 edition by Super Crazy, but before the match he cut a promo claiming to be "the crown jewel of the talent initiative." He returned to ECW on the December 16th edition, after nearly 2 months of inactivity, and lost to Finlay.
Florida Championship Wrestling
After making his ECW debut, Spears debuted in WWE's development territory Florida Championship Wrestling and teamed up with Nic Nemeth to beat the The Puerto Rican Nightmares for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
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- Running Death Valley driver
- Hangman's neckbreaker
- Belly to back suplex
- Front dropkick
- Piledriver
- Sharpshooter
- Spinning backbreaker
- Superplex
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- Golden Lasso (Modified Hart attack)
- Double dropkick
- Double flapjack
- Double Russian legsweep
- Powerbomb (Spears) / Missile dropkick (Runnels) combination
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- "The Crown Jewel of ECW's New Superstar Initiative"
- Entrance themes
- '20/20 - current theme, Production theme
Championships and accomplishments
- Adrenaline Live Wrestling
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- ALW Georgian Bay Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Canadian Independent Wrestling Alliance
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- CIWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Florida Championship Wrestling
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- FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Nic Nemeth
- Great Lakes Championship Wrestling
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- GLCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Flex Falcone
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- NSPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with J.T. Playa
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- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (3 times) with Cody Runnels (2) and Colt Cabana (1)
- OVW Television Championship (3 times)
- Pure Wrestling Association
- PWA Pure Wrestling Championship (1 time)
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