Sixteen years ago, WWE Superstar Sheamus shocked the wrestling world when he dethroned John Cena to capture his first championship. Back then, he was a brash upstart from Ireland, unapologetic and unrelenting. Over the years, he has evolved from a boisterous brute into a respected fan favorite. Known for his strength and ring IQ, the Celtic Warrior once thrived as a heavy-hitting heel — and today, he still delights in punishing opponents with raw brutality, but now carries himself with the perspective of a battle-tested leader.
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“I love what I do. I love being in that ring and I love the physicality of this sport,” Sheamus tells Billboard ahead of Monday Night Raw in the UK. “After all these years, I’m even more passionate now than I’ve ever been in my career. I get more and more addicted to this. I love fighting.”
That passion fuels his boiling-hot feud with friend-turned-foe Rusev, which will come to a head this Sunday (Aug. 31) at Clash in Paris. The bruisers once stood side by side in the League of Nations before Rusev’s departure to AEW. Now, years later, their paths collide again — this time on foreign soil, with the world watching.
“This is a war,” Sheamus declares. “We’ve had a couple of battles, but the main course is this Sunday at Clash in Paris. He’d better be ready, because I’m ready for anything and everything.”
For Entry 011 of Mic Drops and Elbow Drops, Sheamus reflects on his favorite John Cena memory, the band he’d love to see perform his WrestleMania entrance, and which celebrity he’d most like to put through a table.
You and Rusev go all the way back to the League of Nations. Now that he’s back and you’re on a collision course at Clash in Paris, what kind of fight should fans expect when two powerhouses like you guys finally link up?
With Rusev, we had the League of Nations, which tested our friendship a little a bit back in the day. We’ve been great friends. I moved to Nashville because of him. He was a groomsman at my wedding. Christmases we spent together. Then, we lost that kind of friendship when he left WWE.
To see what he did when he left, he didn’t do anything. To me, it was a wasted opportunity. He never rose to the levels he should have. I know what he’s capable of in that ring. I know how aggressive he can be. Then, when he came back, everyone was excited, including me. What does he do? He goes after low-hanging fruit like [WWE Superstars] Tozawa and Otis. That’s how you wanna come back? That’s how you wanna test yourself?
I spoke to him about it. That’s what friends do. Friends call you out, right? They say it to your face. I did the same thing to him and he didn’t wanna hear it. It soured our friendship and when we had our match, he took the easy route again. The second match, he tried to take me out again, but I caught him. The third match, we just kept going because the hatred’s been growing. At the Barclays Center, I went after him again because I’m not letting him off the hook. I’m not just gonna walk away. F–k no.
You’ve talked about giving Drew McIntyre the famous “burgers after burgers after burgers” line. How did you take something as personal as your weight frustrations and flip it into humor that became both motivational and memorable?
Because it’s entertainment, right? It’s what we do. I can’t take these things personally, because they’re true. I saw a lot of stuff on social media and I’ll be honest: when I was younger and Twitter came out in 2010, I got a lot of [comments] about favoritism like, “I’m Triple H’s workout buddy” and all that stuff. Everything I did was undermined. It really got to me. Even though I was a chubby ginger head kid in school, I was a little bit sensitive. But over the years, I just realized that you have to lean into things. You can’t shy away. I took accountability for what it was. I pushed hard for the ‘Mania [39] match with Gunther to end that trilogy for the IC title and then it didn’t happen.
Obviously, I was like, “F–k this. I’m gonna do what I wanna do,” especially after coming back from the potential career-ending injury that I had with my neck. Then, I came back and I could have made excuses. I have to take this on the chin. That’s on me. That was my fault and I owned it. I gave Drew the line and said, “It’s gonna be great. It’s entertainment.” We’re all about getting reactions, telling stories and embracing things that happened.
Your Celtic Warrior Workouts channel has become really popular. Whose workout was the toughest to keep up with, and have you adopted any of those routines into your own training?
The girls’ workout are always the hardest. So much respect to them. I’ve been training since I was 15 years old and I’m sweaty, laying on the floor trying to do these handstands with Lyra Valkyria and I’m falling on her head [Laughs].
Obviously, the whole premise of Celtic Warrior Workouts is being comfortable with the uncomfortable. When I started it, I was kind of going through a situation where I lost the passion for working out and I was lost. Then, I had the idea of what if I just did other people’s workouts and find out what their story is. Us people we all have our own obstacles. We all go through moments. The top musicians, artists and entertainers all go through stuff where we feel lost and we’re doubting ourselves. That’s really what the charm of the channel: people telling their stories and how they started training to overcome certain things.
If you could have any artist craft an original theme and perform it live for your WrestleMania entrance, who’s on that shortlist and why?
You know, at first, I thought about Dropkick Murphys for me, but they weren’t interested. I loved House of Pain growing up. I know two American bands. I don’t know if they fit me but The Dubliners are great. I actually became more interested in Irish Folk Music as well since I came to America nearly 20 years ago. He’s obviously not here anymore but Shane MacGowan. I don’t know. Any band that’s passionate about doing it for me, that would be phenomenal. There’s a lot of Irish bands and young amazing talents as well, like Kingfishr. They have this song called “Killeagh.” It’s an amazing tune. It’s not an entrance tune, but it’s a very chill vibe. They can put a little bit of spit on it and update “Written in Your Face.”
You’ve once mentioned fighting to get your original entrance theme back. What makes that song so sacred to you, and why does it still resonate so deeply after all these years?
Nostalgia. I got it when I got to FCW, which is now NXT. I had it there when I was in FCW and it’s something that’s been resonating throughout my entire career. I changed it up to “Hellfire” when I went with the mohawk because it just didn’t seem right to have that song when I had that [hairstyle]. So that was kind of the thing there. It was a different kind of vibe, different kind of character and I was a heel. I had weird braids and beads hanging out of my beard. It was a lot of maintenance buddy. Literally, every week, I was getting my facial hair almost twisted off of my skin. Shaving the side of my head everything…I remember when I first came back for Mania telling the guys, “This is going to be awesome,” and then I got “You look stupid” chants.
I remember Vince was like, “Dude. What are you doing?”
Emotional investment, man. If they weren’t emotionally invested enough to chant and sing that, that’s when you’d be worried.
You once put Mark Cuban through a table. If you could put any celebrity through a table today, who would it be and why?
That’s a great question. I’d really love to put Logan Paul through a table. I reached out to him to do a workout a couple of years ago and apparently, it came through his assistant — a politely, “Thank you, but no thank you.” I was like, “Ok.” Too big for my channel. I’m gonna remember that.
You gotta go see him in catering and let him know.
[Laughs] I think he gets his own catering. He leans into that stuff, but other celebrities? Rio Ferdinand. I’d stick him through a table. It used to be Gary Neville, but I already put Gary in a Cloverleaf. NFL players? I’d put Tom Brady through a table. He’s bought into a football team in Birmingham City and when he talks about [soccer] and the NFL being the same, it’s not the same. It’s not the same. It’s like me buying an NFL team and pretending to know what I’m talking about. Let’s see if he can take it.
Back in December 2009, you shocked the world beating Cena for your first WWE Championship. With him retiring this year, what stands out most to you about your memories with John, whether in the ring or away from it?
I learned a lot from John. Winning the title came up to him, as well. A lot of it was his decision. He was in that situation where he could have said, “No. This kid’s not proven.” Even though the boss was the one who asked him, it was still up to John. The respect there for John has been massive. He’s one of the biggest stars in the company’s history. People talk about Hogan, Rock, Cena, and Austin. I think he could have easily said no and didn’t.
From the matches, I’ve learned a lot like being in the moment, listening to the crowd and being in tune with what’s going on inside the four corners of the ring. I’ve taken two titles off John — two WWE World Championships off John. The one thing I really liked [during his heel run] was him embracing the pint — the black stuff, you know? A really good pint of stout, but he’s been a huge help to me. Plus, I was brand new and he’s John Cena. Just being in a match with him put me in another level. It put me in front of a lot of eyes I wouldn’t have gotten. I’ll never forgot what he’s done for me and how he’s helped me.
If we put Sheamus of 2009 and Sheamus of today in the same ring, who wins and why?
[Laughs] I’m definitely winning — because yeah he might be 16, 17 years younger than me, right? But I know all of his flaws and all of his weaknesses. He’d be hard to put down, maybe, but I’d imagine me, for sure. Just the experience alone that I have, of where I was then versus where I am now. Everything’s a journey. Sometimes, you get mad at yourself when things go wrong, but you learn to embrace them. The things that at the time felt like a disaster were probably the most endearing parts of my career and what I remember the most. We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect — it’s all about how you deal with them and how you lean into them. If you lean into something, that’s the key.
