Nowadays, rising WWE talents mark their main roster debuts on either the "WWE SmackDown" and "WWE Raw" brands. Back in 2009, however, the wrestling company offered a third platform: "WWE ECW."For former WWE Champion Sheamus, his main roster journey traces back to that now-defunct brand, with his official debut pitting him in a match against Oliver John on the June 30, 2009 edition of "ECW." "The Celtic Warrior" ultimately walked away with a win, but not without a sense of nervousness behind it."I remember my debut was in '09. I remember it was on ECW, and we're on the West Coast, so normally ECW is taped so if anything happens they were able to quickly edit in post before it goes live," Sheamus recalled on "The Cooligans." "It was on Syfy at the time, but because we're on the West Coast, it had to go live because we're three hours behind the East Coast. So basically 5:00 when it went on, so there was no time to edit. I was one and done man. I got out there. I had a guy called Oliver John in there and he was great. We went through it and I had a promo. I spoke in Gaelic. You could tell in my voice I'm a little nervous about it."In his early years with WWE, Sheamus noted that he got "extremely" nervous out of fear of making mistakes. Fortunately, he spent time in WWE's developmental system and competed in dark matches to make him more comfortable, and in turn, prepare him for his eventual ascent.Sheamus defeated John in quick fashion on "ECW," courtesy of a Brogue Kick and a backbreaker. Less than six months later, he bested the company's top star, John Cena, to become the WWE Champion.
Sheamus spent nearly 20 years under the WWE banner, with notable feuds against Cena, Triple H, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, and GUNTHER. According to "The Celtic Warrior" himself, though, none felt like a true storyline of substance."I didn't really get many storylines. I didn't have the luxury. So I went out there and I just put on the best match I possibly could," Sheamus said. "I would get something out of my opponents that nobody else could get out of them. And after they went through me, it was up to them to keep that intensity, but nobody could match my intensity. Nobody could match my physicality."Multiple current and former WWE stars have gone on record citing Sheamus as the hardest in-ring hitter they've ever encountered. Sheamus himself confirmed that he never stopped them from dishing the physicality right back to him, however. In fact, he encouraged it, both for the sake of his opponent and the audience watching along."People love to see a fight," Sheamus said. "They want to see a person give something, a character, wrestler, whatever it is you want to call it, they want to see something different. An internal hunger and fight in them. I prided myself in getting that out of them. That was my forte. Would I have loved a lot more storylines and stuff like that? Of course, I would have. I never really got a really great story that I could sink my teeth into."The multi-time world champion departed from WWE after reportedly turning down a restructured contract extension offer. He officially hit the free agency market earlier this month.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Cooligans" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
