Tye Dillinger | |
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Arneill in 2012
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Birth name | Ronald William Arneill |
Born |
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada |
February 19, 1981
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Gavin Spears Tye Dillinger Shawn Spears |
Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Billed weight | 223 lb (101 kg) |
Billed from | Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada |
Trained by |
Eric Young Derek Wylde Cody Deaner |
Debut | 2001 |
Ronald William "Ronnie" Arneill (born February 19, 1981) is a Canadian professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, where he performs in their developmental territory NXT, under the ring name Tye Dillinger. Previously, Arneill worked in the independent circuit as Shawn Spears. He also worked with WWE between 2006 and 2008 as Gavin Spears.
Born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario, Arneill attended Laura Secord Secondary School. He played hockey for over ten years until he decided to leave the sport and enter professional wrestling. During his childhood, he was a fan of Rick Rude, Rick Martel, and Mr. Perfect. Arneill is a supporter of English football team Chelsea F.C.
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. Upon wrestling his debut match in March 2002 as Shawn Spears, he began wrestling for some of the biggest independent wrestling promotions throughout Ontario and the United States, including Border City Wrestling, World Xtreme Wrestling, and Blood Sweat and Ears. In February 2005, Arneill made an appearance on an edition of WWE Heat in a tag team match against Rosey and The Hurricane.
After sending a tape to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) officials, Arneill was called for a try-out in Buffalo, New York. He was signed to a developmental contract by WWE following the tryout, on January 21, 2006. He made a cameo appearance in Cyber Sunday as an employee who calls himself Stan, as he gets superkicked by Shawn Michaels of D-Generation X upon learning that he doesn't know the meaning of the word "controversial".