Shawn Dean Discusses His Backstage AEW Role

Captain Shawn Dean was a recent guest on Busted Open Radio. During the interview, Dean spoke about the role he has outside of the ring for AEW and how talent can get in touch with him if they want to be booked as an extra for the company.

"They can email me," he said. "So my email is Shawn.Dean@AllEliteWrestling.com, it's not a secret, you know, so it's out there on business cards, it's out there from other talent who share it. So if anybody is an indie wrestler and you're coming from WWE or New Japan, ROH, wherever you're coming from.

"If you are looking to get an opportunity and get showcased, then yeah to get in contact with me would definitely be the best way to go. We can set some time aside," he added. "We do these Dark tapings in Orlando and it's really like the time to shine."

Shawn Dean also spoke about how AEW Dark has changed and evolved as a show. He noted that things became different during the pandemic. This was the point where the company began filming a lot of matches for that show, which they have done ever since.

"Before the pandemic, Dark was three, maybe four matches at tops," Dean said. "Myself, having the privilege during the pandemic taping from the beginning to the end for that entire 16 months, Dark really took on a life of its own. Where you get to discover and see talent you may not normally see, or you may not have even heard of, or talent you may have forgotten about.

"That platform of Dark is not to be underestimated as being just a YouTube show," he stated. "It's definitely a way to showcase your talent and abilities. Like I said, whether you get three minutes or 10 minutes on there that's how you make the most of your time and that's how a lot of people continue to be featured. That's how a lot of people continue to get signed."

Shawn Dean went on to discuss more behind-the-scenes details about his role as the Extra Coordinator. This sees him book the talent and matches for AEW Dark, which was a role he took on from QT Marshall.

"Dark took on a life of its own where it went from four matches to seventeen matches," Dean reflected. "It was at a time when we were cranking out like 18-match shows for Dark. We needed more extras for that. It became overwhelming for QT (Marshall) to do it because that's what he was doing at first.

"He took on more responsibility in other roles that he had to do. He entrusted me to take over the role of actually booking the extras and helping him book the matches for Dark. That's how I ended up becoming the extra coordinator," he revealed. "A position they created for that purpose, to help book for Dark."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.