When discussion is brought up about villains who made an almost immediate impact in their WWE debuts, usually talk swings to the late Yokozuna and Brock Lesnar. But now “The Celtic Warrior” Sheamus will forever be added to that list. Sheamus did the almost unthinkable this past Sunday night at the TLC pay per view when he defeated John Cena in a Tables match to become the 39th man to win the coveted World Wrestling Entertainment Championship. It’s not bad for someone who hasn’t been on WWE television for even a year at this point, and was essentially persona non grata until October of this year.
Sheamus was originally highlighted during a piece on ECW’s new talent back in July, but at this point he is more than deserving of his own profile.
The Irish-born star (real name Stephen Farrelly) started his wrestling career in 2002, training under Larry Sharpe and his Monster Factory. A serious neck injury sidelined him from the beginning and he returned to Ireland. In 2004 he resumed his wrestling career in his homeland and worked around all the independent territories throughout the United Kingdom, including Irish Whip Wrestling, All Star Wrestling and Real Quality Wrestling.
Starting in 2007 when WWE would come to the UK, Sheamus was called upon to work dark matches or act as an extra during shows. In the spring of 2007 he was signed to a WWE developmental deal while the company was overseas on a tour. He reported to Florida Championship Wrestling and was one of the territory’s biggest stars, even winning the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship in September 2008. He began touring with WWE on house shows and television tapings in the spring of 2009 before being called up to ECW in June 2009.
He debuted with quick one-sided victories before moving onto his first real feud with the veteran Goldust. After coming out of that feud he embarked on a rivalry with Shelton Benjamin. Their feud ended when Sheamus was moved to the RAW brand in November of this year and Sheamus pinned Benjamin on his last night on the ECW brand. The two men crossed paths one last time in a ten-man tag match at Survivor Series ’09 that saw Sheamus emerge victorious.
From there Sheamus tore a brief path through the RAW roster. He retired Jaime Noble from active competition and dominated the Breakthrough Battle Royal, on the RAW hosted by Jesse “The Body” Ventura. His TLC match against Cena was not only his first one-on-one televised Championship match, but it was first pay per view appearance of any kind in WWE. To say that virtually no one predicted a Sheamus victory that night would be an understatement.
Other new villains like Lesnar and Yokozuna had the proverbial rockets strapped to their back from the moment they debuted, and it was obvious that they would be champion within no time. However Sheamus, while impressive in his early one-side matches, fell into the mold of numerous other overgrown monstrous villains that WWE had under their employ. There was nothing that Sheamus had shown or that the company portrayed on television that would indicate Sheamus’ overnight ascension to the WWE Championship, not to mention beating the company’s golden boy in John Cena to achieve it.
So while there about a dozen other young talents (men like Bourne, Morrison, Kingston, Swagger, Miz, Ziggler, Ryder and McIntyre) in WWE right now just begging to be the top guy for now Sheamus is in that role. It is unclear whether this initial reign will be a short-term experiment or whether this will propel the Irishman into superstardom. Regardless, fans have been clamoring for new blood in the WWE main event scene for months and even years now. For now Sheamus is in severely uncharted territory. The spotlight is on him and he has no better time than now to make himself into a superstar.
Billed Height – 6’6
Billed Weight – 272 lbs.
Billed From – Dublin, Ireland
Nicknames – The Celtic Warrior
Signature Moves – The High Cross; Brogue Kick; The Irish Hammer; The Irish Curse
Major Titles Held – WWE Championship (current), FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship
Debuted – 2002
For more info:
Sheamus’ official WWE bio
Sheamus’ Wikipedia entry
Sheamus on Online World of Wrestling
Comments