Sheamus

**Stephen Farrelly** () (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor, best known by his ring name **Sheamus**, . He is signed with WWE and competes on the Raw brand. He is a four-time world champion and the first Irish world champion in WWE.

Before joining WWE, Farrelly was also a two-time International Heavyweight Champion during his tenure in Irish Whip Wrestling. He held the WWE and United States Championship three times, the World Heavyweight Championship once, and tag team championships five times (being a four-time Raw and one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion) with Cesaro. He also won the King of the Ring in 2010, the Royal Rumble in 2012 and the Money in the Bank ladder match in 2015.

## Early life
Farrelly was born in Cabra, Dublin and was raised within the city. On the advice of Bret Hart, Farrelly began training in Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory wrestling school in April 2002. He suffered a serious neck injury after botching a hip toss He went on to win a battle royal the following month.

O'Shaunessy spent the rest of the year engaged in a rivalry with Vid Vain after losing to his tag team partner Joey Cabray the same night as winning the battle royal. He earned a place against Alex Shane in a guest match for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance (FWA) British Heavyweight Championship. Despite putting on a strong showing and being close to winning, his friend Red Vinny interfered in the match and cost him the championship.

O'Shaunessy's first successful title defence came against Burridge the following month but Burridge would not let his grudge rest, continuing to attack O'Shaunessy and finally costing him the title during a match against D'Lo Brown on 29 May. though lost to him in an arm wrestling contest the following day. Still, he continued on his quest to regain the title

After defending his title against Vampiro O'Shaunessy found himself embroiled in a new feud with rising Scottish wrestling star "Thee" Drew Galloway, whom he later admitted was his toughest opponent. The rivalry quickly took on a patriotic flavour, with Galloway's blue colours of Scotland clashing O'Shaunnesy's green colours of Ireland.

With Galloway defeated, O'Shaunessy continued to dominate by again defending his title against Vampiro on 17 March. Galloway earned himself a two out of three falls match against the champion the following day  which O'Shaunessy won two falls to one; the next day produced the same result in a match O'Shaunessy claimed was his best on the independent circuit. With their rivalry intensifying, Galloway's next challenge to O'Shaunnesy was given the stipulation of a Last Man Standing match. O'Shaunessy retained the title, as he also did in June with the same stipulation. Finally, on 28 August, O'Shaunessy lost the IwW International Heavyweight Championship in a singles match to Galloway in what would be his last appearance with the promotion.
### British promotions (2005–2007)
O'Shaunessy travelled to Great Britain to make appearances on the British independent circuit. In April 2006 he was brought into Wales' Celtic Wrestling promotion as a contender for their top title but was defeated by the champion, Chris Recall. Later that year in November, he was employed by London's LDN Wrestling to appear on their *Capital TV* show where, after quickly defeating William Hill, he gained an LDN Championship match against Tex Benedict which ended with Benedict winning by disqualification and O'Shaunessy attacking him after the match.

During his time overseas he worked for Brian Dixon's All Star Wrestling, which gave him a taste of large audiences that he had not experienced in Ireland,

O'Shaunessy also brought with him to Britain his long-standing rivalry with Galloway. O'Shaunessy went back to Scotland to take part in BCW's Path To Glory tour, defeating Galloway on the first night but conceding a loss the to him next night in May. Though their feud finished in Ireland in August 2006, it continued on across the Irish Sea when the two wrestled for the umbrella promotion Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) the following year. The two first met during April's *Taking On The World* show which ended in a double countout. The lack of a decision led to a rematch in June, and one of O'Shaunessy's last on the independent circuit, where Galloway picked up the victory in a No Holds Barred match ahead of an RQW Heavyweight Championship match.

### World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
On 13 November 2006, O'Shaunessy appeared on the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) show *Raw* at the Manchester Evening News Arena as part of the security team ejecting D-Generation X from ringside only to later receive a Pedigree from Triple H. The following year in April he received another set of try out matches in Milan and London against Galloway as well as Stu Sanders and WWE talent Jimmy Wang Yang and Monster Factory alumnus Domino. This led to an offer for signing a developmental contract for WWE at which point he relocated to the United States. and Jake Hager before teaming with Kafu (and managed by Dave Taylor) in the tournament to crown the inaugural FCW Florida Tag Team Champions. They advanced past the first round after defeating The British Lions ("Thee Superstar" Christopher Gray and "The Rascal" Tommy Taylor) but lost to Brad Allen and Nick Nemeth in the second round.

By September, O'Shaunessy had focused his attention to singles competition and wrestled his way to the top of the card, successfully defeating former partner Hager for the Florida Heavyweight Championship. He defended the title against Hager on 23 October and took on a number of competitors, with Eric Escobar and Joe Hennig consistently earning themselves into contention. Eventually, on 11 December, O'Shaunessy lost the title to Escobar in a four-way match also involving Hennig and Drew McIntyre (formerly Drew Galloway). unsuccessfully challenging Justin Angel for the Florida Heavyweight Championship in November.

On 22 July 2008 O'Shaunessy worked a dark match at a *SmackDown* taping, losing to R-Truth. The following year in May, O'Shaunessy began appearing at the Raw brand's house shows, and on both 8 and 9 May he defeated Jamie Noble along with another dark match victory over Noble before an episode of *Raw*.

#### Breakout (2009–2011)
 in 2010.]]
On the 30 June 2009 episode of *ECW*, Farrelly made his unannounced debut as a villain under the shortened ring name of Sheamus, quickly defeating a local competitor. Sheamus soon entered into a critically well-received After exchanging victories in the following weeks the two appeared on the *Abraham Washington Show* talk segment leading to a No Disqualification match on 1 September which was won by Sheamus. Sheamus then began a feud with Shelton Benjamin which was hot-shot into a deciding match on 27 October which Sheamus won.

His rivalry with Benjamin ended because Sheamus had already been moved to the Raw brand. He made his *Raw* debut by defeating Jamie Noble on 26 October. In the following weeks, he continued to attack Noble causing him to retire, and, in lieu of competition, assaulted the timekeeper and commentator Jerry Lawler on November 16 at Madison Square Garden.  Sheamus won a "break-through" battle royal for wrestlers who had never won a world championship, to become the number one contender to John Cena's WWE Championship. At the contract signing immediately afterwards, Sheamus put Cena through the table as the Raw guest host Jesse Ventura announced it would be a Table match. On 13 December, at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Sheamus defeated Cena to win the WWE Championship, his first championship in WWE, making him the first Irish-born WWE Champion. On 21 February, Sheamus lost the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in the Elimination Chamber match after he was eliminated by Triple H. During the match, Sheamus suffered a concussion and as a result did not attend *Raw* the following night. Upon his return, he took revenge on Triple H with an attack to set up a match at WrestleMania XXVI that Sheamus lost. The following month at Extreme Rules, Sheamus attacked Triple H at the beginning of the show and later defeated him in a Street Fight. After a series of kicks to the head to win, he continued his assault after the match finished resulting in Triple H being written off television for ten months.

 King of the Ring.]]
On 20 June, at the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, Sheamus won a fatal four-way match, following interference from The Nexus that allowed him to pin John Cena, thus winning the WWE Championship, and beginning his second World Championship reign. He went on to defeat Cena a third time in a steel cage match to retain the championship at the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view, and against Randy Orton at SummerSlam, which ended in disqualification, meaning that Sheamus retained his title. At Night of Champions, Sheamus was pinned by Randy Orton in a Six-Pack Elimination Challenge for the WWE Championship.

He bounced back on 29 November, with wins over Kofi Kingston and John Morrison to become King of the Ring, after receiving a bye through the second round. As King Sheamus, he faced Morrison again at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs PPV for a future WWE Championship match but lost the Ladder match. Going into 2011, he continued to lose to Morrison in a mixture of singles and tag team matches. Triple H returned on 28 February and took revenge for his scripted ten month injury by putting him through the announce table. Right after that, Sheamus was defeated by Evan Bourne who returned to Raw after a four month injury. On 7 March, after losing a match against Daniel Bryan, Sheamus challenged him to a rematch with his WWE career on the line against Bryan's United States Championship. He won his match against Bryan the following week, winning his first United States Title.

#### SmackDown; World Heavyweight Champion (2011–2012)
In the 2011 Supplemental Draft, Sheamus was drafted to the SmackDown brand. Although he took the United States Championship with him, he lost it back to the Raw brand at Extreme Rules when Kofi Kingston defeated him in a Table match. On the 3 June episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus lost a World Heavyweight Championship match to Randy Orton due to biased refereeing from Christian, beginning a turn from a villainous character to a fan favorite over the following weeks. Two weeks later, he was put in a match against Christian with a stipulation that if Sheamus won, he would be able to compete in the World Heavyweight Championship match at WWE Capitol Punishment. However he was unsuccessful in the match, and was he was punted by Randy Orton after the match. Sheamus' face turn culminated in him attacking Mark Henry for being a bully, though he lost to him by count-out at Summerslam. After this loss, Sheamus went on a 14 match winning streak that ended after outside interference from Christian, with whom he had been feuding. During this time, Sheamus defeated Christian in three consecutive matches at Hell in a Cell, Vengeance, and on *Smackdown*. He then went on a 12 match winning streak building towards winning the 2012 Royal Rumble. He entered the match twenty-second and won by last eliminating Chris Jericho to earn a main event championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII.

Sheamus attacked World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan after he retained his title in the Elimination Chamber match; confirming he would face Bryan at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Sheamus defeated Bryan in eighteen seconds to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. On the 6 April episode of *Smackdown*, Sheamus was defeated by Alberto Del Rio via disqualification, thus earning Del Rio a future title match. At Extreme Rules, Sheamus successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Bryan in a two out of three falls match. At Over the Limit, Sheamus defeated Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and Alberto Del Rio in a fatal-four-way match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. At No Way Out, Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler to again retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

## Acting career
Farrelly played the role of Two Ton in the 2008 movie *The Escapist*, which starred Joseph Fiennes and Brian Cox. He had a small role in the 2006 Irish film, *3 Crosses*, / *High Cross* (Crucifix powerbomb) – 2009–2011
*** *Irish Curse* (Side slam backbreaker) – 2009; used as a signature move thereafter
*** *White Noise* (Over the shoulder back to belly piledriver) – 2012–present
* **Signature moves**
** *Battering Ram* (Diving shoulder block, sometimes while slingshotting)
*** Double axe handle
*** Fallaway slam
*** Front powerslam
*** Inverted facelock backbreaker
*** Knee lift, sometimes to a rope hung opponent
*** Repeated forearm clubs to an opponent's chest
*** Repeated knee drops to an opponent's head
*** Rolling fireman's carry slam
*** Short-arm clothesline – Independent circuit or a chokelift side slam – FCW)
*** *Irish Curse* (Low blow)
** **Signature moves**
*** *Frenzy* (Multiple slaps followed by a spinning backfist) (WWE)
** "The Great White" (WWE)
** "The Irish Curse" (Independent circuit)
** **"Written in My Face"** performed by Sean Jenness and composed by Jim Johnston (WWE)
** **"Hellfire"** by CFO$ (WWE)

## Championships and accomplishments
.]]
* ***ESPN***
** Match of the year (2022) 
* **Florida Championship Wrestling**
** FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
** Ranked No. 5 of the top 500 wrestlers in the *PWI 500* in 2012
* ***Rolling Stone***
** Most Welcome Heel Turn (2015) 
* **World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE**
** WWE (World Heavyweight) Championship (3 times)
** World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
** WWE United States Championship (3 times)
** WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Cesaro
** WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Cesaro
** King of the Ring (2010)
** Money in the Bank (2015)
** Royal Rumble (2012)
** Slammy Award (4 times)
*** Breakout Star of the Year (2009)
*** Superstar/Diva Most in Need of Make-up (2010)
**WWE Year-End Award for Tag Team of the Year (2018) – with Cesaro
* ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
** Most Improved (2010)

## Footnotes 
## References
## Other websites
* 
* Sheamus' profile on WWE.com
*