Sheamus

On 13 November 2006, Sheamus and Wade Barrett 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 for Sheamus to later receive a *Pedigree* from Triple H.

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

On the 30 June 2009 episode of *ECW*, Sheamus made his unannounced debut as a villain, quickly defeating a local competitor. Sheamus soon entered into a rivalry with Goldust after defeating him on 29 July. After exchanging victories in the following weeks they competed in 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 prematurely when Sheamus was 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 16 November. The following week, Sheamus appeared on his first WWE pay-per-view event, Survivor Series, when he was part of The Miz's team in a traditional five-on-five elimination tag team match. He eliminated fellow Irishman Finlay and made the final pinfall to eliminate the opposing captain John Morrison and survive along with The Miz and Drew McIntyre.

The following night on *Raw*, 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 afterward, Sheamus put Cena through the table, and the *Raw* guest host, Jesse Ventura, announced it would be a Tables match. On 13 December at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and 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. He also captured the major title in just 166 days since his WWE debut, making it the third shortest time to capture a title since his WWE/ECW debut. The following night on *Raw*, Sheamus was awarded the 2009 Breakout Superstar of the Year Slammy Award. He would make his first title defense on the final *Raw* of 2009, getting disqualified in a rematch against Cena. On 31 January 2010 at the Royal Rumble, Sheamus defeated Randy Orton by disqualification to retain the WWE Championship, following interference from Orton's teammate Cody Rhodes. 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 attacked Triple H in revenge, setting up a match at WrestleMania XXVI, where 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.

On 20 June at 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, winning the WWE Championship for the second time and being named the one-hundredth WWE Champion in history. He defeated Cena in a steel cage match to retain the championship on 18 July at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, after The Nexus interfered again. He retained the title against Randy Orton on 15 August at SummerSlam by disqualification. On 19 September at Night of Champions, Sheamus lost the WWE Championship to Randy Orton in a six-pack elimination challenge, which also included Chris Jericho, Edge, John Cena, and Wade Barrett. Sheamus received his rematch for the title on 3 October at Hell in a Cell, but was again defeated by Orton in a Hell in a Cell match.

He bounced back on 29 November, with wins over Kofi Kingston and John Morrison to become the 2010 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 pay-per-view for a future WWE Championship match, but lost in a 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 Sheamus through the announce table.

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. The rematch between Sheamus and Bryan took place on 3 April, during the pre-show of WrestleMania XXVII, and ended in a draw after interference from the lumberjacks. The next night on *Raw*, Sheamus retained the United States Championship against Bryan in a rematch. In the 2011 Supplemental Draft, Sheamus was drafted to the SmackDown brand, and made his SmackDown debut on 29 April, attacking Kofi Kingston. He brought the United States Championship to SmackDown, but lost it back to the Raw brand at Extreme Rules when Kingston defeated him in a tables match.

On the 3 June episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus lost a World Heavyweight Championship match to Randy Orton due to biased refereeing from Christian. Two weeks later, he lost a match to Christian, ending his chance to compete in the World Heavyweight Championship match at Capitol Punishment. Sheamus turned face for the first time, briefly feuding with Mark Henry over Henry being a bully, including a loss at SummerSlam, Sheamus went on a fourteen match winning streak that ended after 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 twelve 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.

On 19 February at Elimination Chamber, Sheamus attacked World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan after Bryan retained his title, thus challenging Bryan for and winning the World Heavyweight Championship on 1 April at WrestleMania XXVIII, in a record 18 seconds. On the 6 April episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus lost to Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match by disqualification, thus earning Del Rio a future title match and starting a feud between the two. On 29 April at Extreme Rules, Sheamus successfully defended the World Heavyweight Title against Bryan in a two out-of-three falls match. Sheamus then returned to his feud with Del Rio which eventually began to include Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. The rivalry between them culminated in a fatal-four way match for the World Heavyweight Championship on 20 May at Over the Limit, where Sheamus pinned Jericho to retain the title. Del Rio earned another title shot on the 25 May episode of *SmackDown*, but suffered a concussion a week before their match at No Way Out and was subsequently replaced by Dolph Ziggler; Sheamus retained the title in their match. Sheamus went on to retain the title against Del Rio and Ziggler over the next few months, including at Money in the Bank, SummerSlam, and Night of Champions. On 28 October at Hell in a Cell, Sheamus lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Big Show, ending his reign, which was the third longest in the title's history, at 210 days.

Sheamus faced Show for the World Heavyweight Championship on November at Survivor Series, defeating Show by disqualification, failing to win the title. Afterward, Sheamus repeatedly hit Show with a steel chair. This led to a chairs match on 16 December at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, where Sheamus again failed to regain the title. On the 24 December episode of *Raw*, Sheamus defeated Show in a non-title lumberjack match.

On 27 January 2013, at the Royal Rumble, Sheamus entered the Royal Rumble at number eleven, eliminating five other superstars before Ryback eliminated him. After being a frequent target of The Shield, Sheamus gained vengeance on the stable when he united with John Cena and Ryback to attack them. This culminated in a six-man tag team match at Elimination Chamber, where the Shield emerged victorious. In late February, Sheamus aligned himself with Randy Orton to feud with The Shield. Over the next weeks, Sheamus and Orton saved each other from attacks by The Shield and Big Show. On the 15 March episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus and Orton were then allowed to pick a third partner to face the Shield in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania 29 and chose Ryback. Three days later on *Raw*, however, Ryback was booked for another match at the event, leaving the spot open. Later that night, Big Show saved the two from an attack by The Shield and was recruited as their partner. On 7 April at WrestleMania 29, Sheamus, Orton and Show were defeated by The Shield, after which both men were knocked out by Show. The following night on *Raw*, Sheamus and Orton faced off in a match to earn a match with Big Show, however, the match ended in a no contest after Show interfered. Sheamus and Orton then defeated Show in two handicap matches on *SmackDown* and *Raw.*

Later that month, Sheamus re-entered a feud with Mark Henry after the two repeatedly attacked each other backstage. Sheamus and Henry then challenged each other in tests of strength, but with Sheamus unable to best Henry, he resorted to attacking Henry. After Sheamus attacked a commentary-bound Henry during a match, Henry whipped Sheamus with a belt, prompting a strap match on 19 May at Extreme Rules, where Sheamus emerged victorious. Sheamus then began feuding with Damien Sandow, when Sandow hosted a series of mental challenges on *SmackDown*, and Sheamus repeatedly interrupted and tried to solve the challenges. However, when Sheamus failed to solve the puzzles, he instead resorted to physical violence. On 16 June, during the Payback pre-show, Sheamus defeated Sandow in a singles match. The following night on *Raw*, Sheamus was defeated by Sandow and Cody Rhodes in a handicap match after Sandow pinned him with a roll-up. The rivalry culminated in a Dublin Street Fight on the 28 June episode of *SmackDown*, where Sheamus emerged victorious. On 14 July at Money in the Bank, Sheamus competed in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Randy Orton. During the match, Sheamus suffered a hematoma on his left thigh after being thrown into a horizontal ladder, which prevented him from competing that week. Sheamus returned to in-ring action on the 22 July episode of *Raw*, losing to World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match. On 7 August, WWE confirmed Sheamus had suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder that would require surgery, and was expected to miss between four and six months of ring action.

On 26 January 2014, at the Royal Rumble, Sheamus returned as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match; he was eliminated by Roman Reigns in the final three. The following night on *Raw*, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, and John Cena qualified for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship; he was eliminated by Christian in the match. This began a brief feud leading up to WrestleMania, in which Sheamus consistently was victorious. He was part of the final four in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, before he and Alberto Del Rio eliminated each other. On 14 April, Sheamus participated in the Intercontinental Championship number one contender tournament, which was held on *Raw*. He advanced to the next round by defeating Jack Swagger, before losing to Bad News Barrett in the semi-finals on 21 April.

On the 5 May episode of *Raw*, Sheamus won a 20-man battle royal to win the United States Championship for the second time, last eliminating the previous champion Dean Ambrose. Sheamus then began feuding with Cesaro and his manager Paul Heyman, culminating in a match between Sheamus and Cesaro for the championship at Payback, which Sheamus won. On 9 June, Sheamus defeated Bad News Barrett to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship; the match was won by John Cena. Sheamus was in the Intercontinental Championship battle royal at Battleground; the match was won by The Miz. Sheamus successfully defended the title against Cesaro at Night of Champions, and The Miz at Hell in a Cell. He lost the title to Rusev on 3 November, in a match aired exclusively on the WWE Network ending his reign at 182 days. Following this, Sheamus was written off television when he and Big Show were attacked by Rusev and Mark Henry, allowing Sheamus time off for surgery.

On the 30 March episode of *Raw*, Sheamus returned from injury, having drastically changed his look, including a mohawk and braided beard, appearing to save Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler from an attack by Bad News Barrett, but then attacked Bryan and Ziggler instead, turning heel in the process for the first time since 2011. Sheamus then explained his heel turn and new attitude by claiming that "the era of underdogs is over", resulting in a feud with Ziggler. On the 16 April episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus announced that he would face Ziggler in a Kiss Me Arse match at Extreme Rules, which he lost. However, Sheamus refused to follow the stipulation, and instead made Ziggler kiss his arse, despite losing. At Payback, Sheamus defeated Ziggler in a rematch. At Elimination Chamber, Sheamus participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Ryback. At Money in the Bank, Sheamus won the Money in the Bank ladder match to earn a WWE World Heavyweight Championship contract. Sheamus then began a feud with Randy Orton, who was also part of the ladder match, with both men attacking each other and facing off in tag-team matches. Sheamus lost to Orton at Battleground, but defeated Orton at SummerSlam.

In November, Sheamus competed in the tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, being eliminated in the first round by Cesaro. At Survivor Series, Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and defeated newly crowned champion Roman Reigns, after he refused to shake hands with Triple H, to win the title, thus aligning with Triple H and The Authority. On the 30 November episode of *Raw*, Sheamus announced that he had formed his own stable called The League of Nations with Alberto Del Rio, Rusev and King Barrett, with the members of which having been born outside the U.S., while remaining associated with the Authority. In addition, he proclaimed his championship reign as "Sheamus 5:15", a play on Austin 3:16 and Reigns' short-lived title reign of five minutes and 15 seconds.

At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Sheamus defeated Reigns in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match after interference from The League of Nations. After the match, Reigns attacked Sheamus and Triple H. This resulted in a rematch the following night on *Raw* for the title with the stipulation that Reigns would be fired should he lose. Despite interference from chairman Mr. McMahon, Sheamus lost the title, ending his reign at 22 days. On the 4 January 2016 episode of *Raw*, he failed to regain the title from Reigns with McMahon as special guest referee. On 24 January, Sheamus entered the 2016 Royal Rumble at number 29, where he made to the final four, before being eliminated by Reigns.

At Fastlane, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day began mocking The League of Nations, calling them the "league of booty". They then continued to mock The League of Nations in various segments and skits while simultaneously feuding with other teams. At Roadblock, Sheamus and Barrett unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The next night on *Raw*, The New Day defeated Del Rio and Rusev, prompting all four members of The League to attack The New Day after the match. The League of Nations then challenged and defeated The New Day in 6-Man Tag Team Match at WrestleMania 32. After the match, they were confronted and attacked by Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels. The next night on *Raw*, Barrett and Sheamus faced The New Day in another tag team title match, in a losing effort. After the match, the League of Nations blamed Barrett for being the "weak link" and attacked him, ejecting him from the group, before the rest of the team was attacked by The Wyatt Family. The feud was suspended within a month as Bray Wyatt suffered an injury, which led to Alberto Del Rio saying that The League might split soon in result.

On the 28 April episode of *SmackDown*, The League of Nations would compete in a six-man tag match against Sami Zayn, Cesaro and Kalisto, however, Del Rio and Rusev walked out during the match. Sheamus, who would do the same, confronted Del Rio and Rusev during a brawl, and said that the league is finished, confirming the end of the group. Del Rio would also confirm in an interview that the group was finished. At Money in the Bank, after feuding with Apollo Crews in the weeks leading to the event, Sheamus lost to Crews.

On 19 July at the 2016 WWE draft, Sheamus was drafted to Raw. Sheamus would then begin a rivalry with Cesaro, after losing to Cesaro on the 1 August episode of *Raw*, the two would continue to brawl after the match with match officials having to pull them apart. On the 8 August episode of *Raw*, after losing to Cesaro in a rematch, he would later cost Cesaro the United States Championship after interfering in his main event impromptu match against Rusev. The following week, Raw General Manager Mick Foley booked Sheamus and Cesaro in a Best of Seven Series, with the first match taking place on 21 August on the SummerSlam kick-off show, which Sheamus won. Sheamus would defeat Cesaro in the second and third matches, but lost to Cesaro in the fourth, fifth and sixth matches. At Clash of Champions, the match ended in a no contest, leaving their series tied at 3-3. The next night on *Raw*, Mick Foley decided to make the two partners to receive a future Raw Tag Team Championship opportunity. Later that night, they defeated a few local athletes, but still did not seem to be seeing eye to eye. Sheamus and Cesaro defeated The New Day on 24 October episode of *Raw* and defeated them by disqualification at Hell in a Cell.

On the 7 November episode of *Raw*, Sheamus and Cesaro were announced as part of Team Raw for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series on 20 November, which Team Raw won with Sheamus and Cesaro being the sole survivors of their team. The next night on *Raw*, Sheamus and Cesaro again failed to capture Raw Tag Team Championship from The New Day. After hinting at a break-up, the pair got into a bar brawl with men who offended them and finally began to cooperate with each other, thus turning Sheamus into a face. On 18 December at Roadblock: End of the Line, Sheamus and Cesaro defeated The New Day to win the Raw Tag Team Championship, marking Sheamus' first tag team championship. On 29 January on the Royal Rumble kickoff show, Sheamus and Cesaro lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and failed to regain them after The Hardy Boyz won the title at WrestleMania 33.

The following night on *Raw*, Sheamus and Cesaro defeated Enzo Amore and Big Cass to become the number one contender's for the Raw Tag Team Championship at Payback. At Payback, after failing to regain the title, both Sheamus and Cesaro turned heel by attacking The Hardy Boyz. From there, now known as "The Bar", their entrances became further synchronized as they wore the same attire into the ring. They then won a tag team turmoil to earn another opportunity for the tag title at Extreme Rules. The match was made a steel cage match after Matt Hardy defeated Sheamus on the 22 May episode of *Raw* in a match where the winner chose the stipulation for their Extreme Rules bout. At the event, The Bar defeated The Hardy Boyz to win the Raw Tag Team Championship for the second time, making Cesaro a three-time champion and Sheamus a two-time champion.

The duo made their first televised defense of the title against The Hardy Boyz on the 12 June episode of *Raw* in a two out of three falls match where the two teams tied at 1-1 after being counted out. They defended their title against The Hardy Boyz at the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view in a 30-minute Iron Man tag team match by the score 4-3. The Bar lost the Raw Tag Team Championship to Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam. The Bar lost their rematch for the title to Rollins and Ambrose at No Mercy. They teamed with The Miz, Braun Strowman and Kane against reunited The Shield and Kurt Angle who replaced Roman Reigns after he wasn't medically cleared to compete in a five-on-three TLC match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a losing effort.

On the 6 November episode of *Raw*, the duo regained their titles from Rollins and Ambrose, winning the title for the third time. At Survivor Series, they were defeated by The Usos in an interbrand Champion vs Champion match. The Bar later lost the tag team titles to the team of Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan on the Christmas episode of *Raw*. That same month, Sheamus had confessed he has spinal stenosis.

On 28 January 2018, The Bar won back the titles at Royal Rumble, setting the record for the most reigns as a team at four. Earlier in the Royal Rumble match, Sheamus entered at number 11 and was quickly eliminated by Heath Slater, lasting just one second in the match. Following consecutive losses to Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews and Titus O'Neil) on *Raw*, they defended their title against the two at Elimination Chamber, retaining successfully. On the 12 March episode of *Raw*, after Braun Strowman single-handedly won a tag team battle royale to determine the number one contenders for their tag titles at WrestleMania 34 although he lacked a partner, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle still allowed Strowman to wrestle for the titles, under the provision that he reveal his mystery partner at the event. At the event, Strowman revealed his partner to be a 10-year-old fan called Nicholas. The Bar were defeated by Strowman and Nicholas, therefore losing the tag team title and in turn making Nicholas the youngest champion of any kind in WWE history.

On April 17, as part of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Sheamus and Cesaro were both drafted to SmackDown. Despite the trade, they still had an opportunity to win the Raw Tag Team Championship as they faced Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt at the Greatest Royal Rumble event, but failed to win the titles. The Bar entered a short feud with The New Day losing to them and failing to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. After going on a hiatus, the duo returned in late July to take part in a number one contendership tournament for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and beat The Usos to advance to the finals, where they lost to The New Day. After failing to become number one contenders again, the duo finally were gifted a title match. At the Super Show-Down event, The Bar failed to win the titles. At *SmackDown 1000*, The Bar won the titles from The New Day with the help of Big Show. The Bar lost to Raw Tag Team Champions AOP in an interbrand Champion vs Champion match at Survivor Series.

On the November 27 episode of *SmackDown*, they had a backstage argument with Big Show, causing him to break away from the team.  At TLC, they successfully defended the championship against The Usos and The New Day in a triple threat tag team match. On the January 8, 2019 episode of *SmackDown*, they accepted a challenge from The Miz and Shane McMahon, which would lead to a tag team title match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, in which they lost the titles. The following *SmackDown*, they lost a number one contenders match to The Usos. The team then lost to New Day, DIY, The Hardy Boyz, and Aleister Black and Ricochet over the next two months on *SmackDown.*

At WrestleMania 35 in April, The Bar lost to The Usos in a match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. At the *Raw* following WrestleMania, The Bar interrupted a Winner Takes All match between Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston, resulting in a tag team match. The next day on *SmackDown*, Sheamus reportedly suffered a concussion in a six-man tag team match with New Day. Cesaro was drafted to Raw a few weeks later, thus seemingly disbanding The Bar, as Sheamus was listed as a *SmackDown* superstar. It was later reported that Sheamus was suffering from a neck injury.

On September 19, it was reported that Sheamus was healed and ready to return to the ring. On the November 29 episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus, having returned to his old hairstyle, appeared in a vignette, announcing that he would return soon. After several more weeks of backstage vignettes, Sheamus officially returned on the January 3, 2020 *SmackDown*, where he seemingly saved Shorty G from The Revival, only to attack G with a *Brogue Kick*, thus retaining his heel status. Sheamus then defeated Shorty G at the Royal Rumble and on the January 31 episode of *SmackDown*. He then began a feud with Jeff Hardy, insulting him for his various addiction problems, but was defeated by him in the first round of the Intercontinental Championship tournament on the May 22 episode of *SmackDown*. On the May 29 episode of *SmackDown*, Hardy was "arrested" after crashing his car into Elias, however later in the episode, Hardy would cause a distraction for Sheamus, costing him a match against Daniel Bryan, and attacked Sheamus after the match. The feud led to a match at Backlash, which Sheamus won. On the July 24 episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus lost to Hardy in a Bar Fight, ending their feud. On the August 7 episode of *SmackDown,* Sheamus had a match with Matt Riddle, which ended in a disqualification win for Riddle, after he would be attacked by Shorty G, who Sheamus would then attack in retaliation for costing him the match. Later in the episode, Sheamus would cost Shorty G's ally, King Corbin, his match with Jeff Hardy before the two would have a match of their own, which Sheamus would win after a distraction from Riddle.

As part of the 2020 draft in October, Sheamus was drafted to the *Raw* brand. On the October 26 episode of *Raw*, Sheamus defeated Riddle to qualify for Team *Raw* at Survivor Series. Later on, he was involved in a triple threat match against Keith Lee and Braun Strowman for the latter's qualification. He also competed in a tag team match with Strowman against Lee and Riddle in a losing effort. At Survivor Series, Team *Raw* won their match with a clean sweep, with none of the *Raw* team members being eliminated. Sheamus eliminated Seth Rollins after a *Brogue Kick* to score the first elimination.

On the November 30 episode of *Raw*, Sheamus was a guest on Miz TV, where The Miz and John Morrison berated him for his real life best friendship with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, which had been featured in backstage segments throughout November. Sheamus defended McIntyre from the accusations, turning face for the first time since 2017, and attempted to attack Miz, but was beat down by Miz and Morrison. Sheamus teamed with McIntyre against Miz and Morrison in a tag team match later in the night. At the Royal Rumble, Sheamus entered at number twenty-seven, but was eliminated by Braun Strowman. On the February 1, 2021 episode of *Raw*, Sheamus turned heel again when he delivered a *Brogue Kick* to McIntyre after shortly confronting then Royal Rumble winner, Edge. He bemoaned the fact that he was only acknowledged as just "Drew McIntyre's friend", implying that he was overshadowed by his success as the WWE Champion. As a result, he terminated his friendship with McIntyre, and vowed to take the WWE Championship away from him.

At WrestleMania 37, Sheamus defeated Riddle to win the United States Championship for the third time. He would go on to defend the title against the likes of Humberto Carrillo and Ricochet over the next several months. At SummerSlam, Sheamus dropped the title to Damian Priest, ending his third reign at 132 days. As part of the 2021 Draft, Sheamus was drafted to the *SmackDown* brand. In November, Sheamus would form an alliance with Ridge Holland, after Holland would refer to him as his idol during a backstage interview and help Sheamus win his matches. At the Day 1 event on January 1, 2022, he and Holland teamed up to defeat Cesaro and Ricochet. In March, they would enter a feud with The New Day, where on the March 11 episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus and Holland would introduce Butch as part of their stable. At WrestleMania 38, Sheamus and Holland would defeat the New Day after Butch would interfere, attacking Xavier Woods.

On the August 19 episode of *SmackDown*, Sheamus won a fatal five-way match, earning a match against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at Clash at the Castle. The following week on *SmackDown*, Sheamus and Gunther had a confrontation, in which Sheamus and Gunther's respective allies, Butch and Ludwig Kaiser, engaged in a brawl while Sheamus and Gunther remained motionless, staring each other down. At Clash at the Castle on September 3, Sheamus failed to win the Intercontinental Championship from Gunther in a hard hitting match, but received a standing ovation from the Cardiff crowd after the match, turning face in the process. At Extreme Rules, The Brawling Brutes defeated Imperium in a six-man tag team "Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook" match. At Survivor Series WarGames on November 26, The Brawling Brutes, along with Drew McIntyre and Kevin Owens, lost to The Bloodline in a WarGames match. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, Sheamus entered the Royal Rumble match at number two, but was eliminated alongside McIntyre by Gunther.