This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, MJF and Adam Cole’s reign as ROH World Tag Team Champions came to a surprising end when MJF was dethroned by an unknown pair of The Devil’s Masked Men. Friedman was expecting to defend his tag titles against the masked duo alongside Samoa Joe, however, Joe was incapacitated backstage. MJF defended the belts alone in a handicap match and was finally bested when another masked man appeared from under the ring and hit the champion with a steel pipe, allowing the challengers to use Friedman’s own Heatseeker DDT against him for the pinfall win.
While there have been many theories online as to the identities of the various Masked Men as well as The Devil himself, there has been no confirmation or even official hints as to who could be under the masks. However, the identity of one of the Masked Men has reportedly been revealed and it’s not someone you’d expect!
In the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reports that one of The Devil’s Masked Men was played by now-former AEW star Shawn Spears on the company’s programming recently. The report comes less than 24 hours after a report emerged that Spears would be leaving AEW heading into 2024 which was later confirmed by the AEW original himself on social media.
“What a wonderful time it has been,” he wrote yesterday. “Thank you @AEW for allowing me to be there from the ground level. It’s been a fantastic 5 years of growth and personal development. This is a personal choice and one that is best for me and my family at this time. Thank you to all, staff and talent alike for the memories. #10.”
Spears made his AEW debut back at Double Or Nothing 2019 as an entrant in the inaugural Casino Battle Royale and signed with the company shortly after. His biggest career moment came at All Out later that year where he faced Cody Rhodes and later went on to join The Pinnacle alongside MJF, FTR and Wardlow.