SHEAMUS

Stephen Farrelly is a 45-year-old professional wrestler from Dublin, Ireland. Farrelly wrestles for the WWE and performs on SmackDown under the ring name, Sheamus.

Farrelly began training at Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory wrestling school in April 2002. Six weeks later, he made his in-ring debut as Sheamus O’Shaunessy against Robert Pigeon. During this time, Farrelly worked on his persona, drawing from Celtic mythology, and was determined to portray himself as an Irish warrior.

Sheamus Wins Irish Whip Wrestling Championship

After recovering from a serious neck injury, Farrelly returned to wrestling in 2004 at the newly opened Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW) school in Dublin. He made his debut match for the promotion at their Mount Temple show on July 9 against Mark Burns, where he easily picked up a win. The following month, he won a battle royal. He wrestled for Irish Whip Wrestling for two years and during this time he won the IWW International Heavyweight Championship twice. Farrelly also wrestled for British promotions occasionally from 2005 to 2007.

In early November 2006, Farrelly appeared on WWE RAW at the Manchester Arena as part of a security team that ejected D-Generation X from ringside. Farrelly received a Pedigree from Triple H that night. The next day, Farrelly and Drew Galloway had a tryout match against each other for the WWE. In April 2007, he received another set of tryout matches in Milan and London against Galloway and Sanders.

Sheamus’ WWE Contract & Debut

Shortly after his tryout in 2007, Farrelly signed a developmental contract with the WWE and relocated to the United States. Farrelly debuted for the WWE developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) on October 2 in a double-debut match with a win over Bryan Kelly. In September 2008, he defeated former partner Hager for the Florida Heavyweight Championship but lost the title to Escobar in a four-way match also involving Hennig and Drew McIntyre in December.

In 2009, Farrelly made his ECW debut under the ring name Sheamus and was a huge success. Sheamus got pushed heavily which resulted in him winning the WWE Championship at the pay-per-view event, TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, in December 2011 from John Cena. Sheamus successfully defended the title against John Cena and Randy Orton but lost the title in an elimination chamber match at the 2010 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event when he was eliminated by Triple H. That match set the stage for a Triple H vs Sheamus match at WrestleMania XXVI, which Sheamus lost.

Sheamus’ WWE Championship

In June, Sheamus won the WWE Championship again after pinning John Cena at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view event. He lost the WWE Championship to Randy Orton in a six-pack elimination challenge a few months later in September and failed to regain the title at the Hell in a Cell PPV event the following month.

In 2010, Sheamus won the King of the Ring tournament and was dubbed, “King Sheamus.” In March 2011, he defeated Daniel Bryan to win his first United States Championship. He also won the Royal Rumble match in 2012. At WrestleMania XXVIII, he won the World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Daniel Bryan in a record 18 seconds. Sheamus successfully defended his title for several months but lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show at Hell in a Cell, ending his reign, which was the third longest in the title’s history, at 210 days.

Sheamus Wins US Championship

On May 5, 2014, Sheamus won a 20-man battle royal to win the United States Championship for the second time in his career. He lost the title to Rusev in November ending his reign at 182 days. Sheamus won the 2015 Money in the Bank ladder match later and cashed it in on Roman Reigns to gain his fourth world championship. He lost it back to Reigns less than a month later.

In 2016 Sheamus joined the League of Nations alongside Alberto Del Rio, King Barret, and Rusev, but the group disbanded after a few months. Sheamus began feuding with Cesaro shortly after the 2016 WWE Draft when he was assigned to RAW. Eventually, they became a tag team and won the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship four times and the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship once. Their tag team was known as The Bar.

In 2019, Sheamus suffered a concussion in a six-man tag team match with The New Day. Cesaro was drafted to RAW a few weeks later, causing a split of The Bar. In 2020, Sheamus made his return attacking Shorty G and facing him at the Royal Rumble event in 2020. He has also had feuds with Jeff Hardy and Big E since his return from injury. Sheamus was drafted to Monday Night RAW at the October 2020 WWE Draft.

Sheamus’ Third US Championship Title Reign

At WrestleMania 37, Sheamus defeated reigning US Champion, Riddle, to win the United States Championship for his third title reign. Sheamus lost the United States Championship to Damian Priest at SummerSlam 2021. Sheamus’ reign lasted 132 days.

As part of the WWE Draft in October 2021, Sheamus was drafted to SmackDown. In November, Sheamus formed an alliance with Ridge Holland, after Holland referred to him as his idol during a backstage interview and help Sheamus win his matches.

At the Day 1 event on January 1, 2022, Sheamus and Holland teamed up to defeat Cesaro and Ricochet. In March, Sheamus and Holland entered a feud with The New Day. On the March 11th episode of SmackDown, Sheamus and Holland introduced Butch as part of their stable. At WrestleMania 38, Sheamus and Holland defeated The New Day after Butch interfered, attacking Xavier Woods. On the second night of WrestleMania 38 on April 3, Sheamus and Holland defeated The New Day in a quick match. At Money in the Bank on July 2nd, Sheamus competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match but was not successful. He then faced Drew McIntyre in a “Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook” match to determine the #1 contender for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle, but lost.

Intercontinental Championship Challenges

Sheamus won a fatal five-way match on August 19th’s episode of SmackDown which earned him a match against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at the Clash at the Castle. The following week on SmackDown, he confronted Gunther and both of their respective allies, Butch and Ludwig Kaiser engaged in a brawl. Meanwhile, Sheamus and Gunther remained motionless, staring each other down.

At Clash at the Castle on September 3rd, Sheamus lost to Gunther in a hard hitting, highly acclaimed match. They received a standing ovation from the Cardiff crowd after the match, turning face in the process. It became the seventh main roster WWE match to receive five stars from Dave Meltzer, and the first five star match of Sheamus’ career.

At Extreme Rules, The Brawling Brutes defeated Imperium in a Six-Man Tag Team Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match. At Survivor Series WarGames on 26 November, The Brawling Brutes along with Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens lost to The Bloodline in a WarGames match.

Sheamus
Sheamus

STATS

Birth name: Stephen Farrelly
Born: January 28, 1978, Cabra, Dublin, Ireland
Height: 6 ft 3 in (190 cm)
Weight: 250 lb (113 kg)
Spouse: Isabella Revilla
Ring Name(s): Galldubh, King Sheamus, Sheamus, Sheamus O’Shaunessy, Stephen Farrelly
Current Roster: WWE SmackDown
Finishing Move(s): Brouge Kick, White Noise

Sheamus’ Social Media:

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Sheamus Photos

Career Championships and Accomplishments

  • Florida Championship Wrestling
    • FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Irish Whip Wrestling
    • IWW International Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
    • World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • WWE (World Heavyweight) Championship (3 times)
    • WWE United States Championship (3 times)
    • RAW Tag Team Championship (4 times)
    • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time)
    • King of the Ring (2010)
    • Money in the Bank (2015)
    • Royal Rumble (2012)
    • Slammy Awards (4 times)
    • WWE Year-End Award for Tag Team of the Year (2018)