Sheamus explains why he's more comfortable than ever on WWE TV | "Out of Character"
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
WWE’s Sheamus stepped "Out of Character" this week to chat about feeling more comfortable than ever on TV.
During our hour-long conversation, the current United States champion detailed how the pandemic era of WWE TV allowed him to sharpen his game and take his persona in a new direction that felt more authentic to his true self.
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This, as well as standout matches against Superstars such as Big E, Riddle and Drew McIntyre, helped Sheamus find renewed interest in his character, which isn’t easy to do without a live audience in the building.
While reflecting on what it took to get there, Sheamus had this to say during one portion of the conversation:
SHEAMUS: "Over the last year and a half, with the Sheamie type of character, the jacket, the hat, the sort of Irish street clothes vibe. That definitely is a lot more me.
"I grew up in inner city Dublin. I grew up in Cabra. I've been around a lot of people like that and that vibe. It just took me a long time to come and just … just relax a lot more. Not be so tense. Not be so stressed out and just be myself. Right now, I feel like the character is more me than anything else that I’ve done.
"I feel like I'm really in my own skin now, and the promos are flowing, and the character is flowing and, like, I don't even know what's going to come out me mouth next, you know? It’s just gonna pop out there.
"Even the promos, I just do my own stuff. I get a vibe of what the message is or what the story is, and they just let me run with it.
"There’s not much they can do anyway, especially when it’s live, but I’m having so much fun. I really am. I’ve even been back in Dublin for the last week and a half, so it just feels so natural to me."
RS: I love hearing you say that because I genuinely believe that the past year and a half of your career, you have been on fire.
Some of the matches that you had during the COVID era were really good – and I know you obviously had good matches before – but without fans there, it's got to be very difficult to have good matches when you don't have that energy to feed off of.
That match you had with Big E, though, on SmackDown was so good. You had some awesome matches with Matt Riddle, too. It doesn't surprise me to hear that you are kind of feeling more comfortable than you've ever felt in this new role because you have been killing it lately.
SHEAMUS: "When the ThunderDome era happened or when we were in the Performance Center, it just gave me an opportunity to reset everything and work on a lot of my craft.
"Some of the guys and girls struggled a little bit because it was a new environment, and they were kind of doing what they normally do with a crowd. But I was able to focus a lot of my attention on my opponents and the referee, or Cole and Corey [at that time], based on what we had.
"I just used what was around me in that particular era in the beginning in the Performance Center. And, you know, I was just able to go out there and, like, start from scratch a little bit as well. You know what I mean?
"I just kind of engulfed myself in it, and I embraced the ThunderDome – and it just went from there for me.
"It was just so easy. It just felt really, really good. Really natural.
"And I was able to have these hard-hitting matches. I was able to bring another level of intensity that maybe the WWE Universe wouldn’t have seen before, and it just gave me an opportunity to let loose because I had all this pent-up energy.
"I was off for about a year with the concussion that I got after Mania, and I came back, and the return wasn't great. To me, it was a lackluster return, and I just kind of got lost in the shuffle again.
"So when I came back, when we went to that [the Sheamie character], I was able to go out there and have fun and just let loose. Nothing to lose, mate. And I just embraced what was around me. Same with the ThunderDome."
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Making big changes to your character after more than 10 years in WWE might not be the norm for a four-time World Champion who has also won the Royal Rumble, King of the Ring and Money in the Bank matches, but this 43-year-old says he has no interest in resting on his laurels.
In fact, Sheamus made it clear during the show that he’s always looking to prove his value as a performer, even if it’s no longer necessary.
It’s part of what drives him to be the best.
RS: What do you think has been the key to sustaining your career in WWE for as long as you have?
SHEAMUS: "Hunger. Passion.
"For me, it’s been something I’ve wanted my whole life, and I feel like I've been able to stay really, really hungry by going out there every time and not bringing all the accolades I’ve achieved in with me.
"Going out there and acting like I've never won anything, but I'm also trying to get better, mate. I'm also trying to get better in the ring. I'm also trying to get better at promos and my character. I'm constantly trying to improve because I'm never really satisfied with where I'm at.
"I’m never satisfied with anything, to be honest with you, when it involves my career. Never satisfied with what I've won, the matches I've had, the promos I've had. I'm always trying to push it to the next level, week after week after week.
"I feel like that's what really drives me on, is just trying to get better and trying to create something that nobody has seen and leave a legacy that people will never forget. Not just, when it’s over, disappear.
"I want people to talk about Sheamus forever.
"When they talk about WWE, they talk about Sheamus, The Celtic Warrior. I want to be unforgettable in the stuff that I do and as I said, I keep pushing on. When I hear people talk about how Roman Reigns cut a great promo, or Drew and Bobby, or all that sort of stuff, I'm like ‘Screw that. I’m better than these guys, and I'm going to prove I’m better than these guys.’
"I haven't been handed anything. People will go back to 2012 and say, ‘Oh, he's a babyface you shoved down our throat.’ Stuff like that. I'm well aware of what's happened in the past, and that's what drives me on.
"I use that sort of stuff to push myself harder because I know I’m better than all of these people. I know I’m better than all these guys. I just haven't got things served on my plate to me, you know what I mean?
"Maybe in the past there was a time, for a short period of a year or so, I was the golden boy, ‘Celtic Warrior’ Sheamus in 2012 – but that was eight or nine years ago. So I'm constantly just going to go out there and just prove that I’m better than everybody else.
"Whether it’s John Cena coming back or bleeding The Rock coming back, I just want an opportunity to go out there and show ‘em I can bleeding skin them alive in that ring, and I know I can.
"It's just a confidence that’s come over the last couple of years and me being able to relax in my own skin, drop me ego, not worry about what other people think and not overthink stuff. That was the biggest thing for me, Ryan, was overthinking every single thing, not being sure who that character was in the past.
"I knew when I went out there, I could put on a very, very physical match and an entertaining match, but the problem, the thing I noticed, was the character stuff was just not there. It was not solid enough.
"As I said, you can have the best matches you want, but if the character is not there, then people really can't get fully invested or fully attached to it. You're just a guy that goes out there and has great matches or great physical matches.
"Even in the pandemic era, when I did that Barroom Brawl with Jeff Hardy and I came out in that clobber, with the hat and the vest and the pants and stuff, that probably wouldn't have happened in a normal environment.
"So the pandemic and the ThunderDome era gave an opportunity for me to try new things, and from that, it's just grown and grown and grown.
"I'm all-in, mate. I'm loose, I'm enjoying it, I'm having fun, and I don't even know what I'm going to say next. It's really starting to take off, and I can just go with this. I can go anywhere with this character."
For more with Sheamus, watch or listen to this week’s "Out of Character with Ryan Satin."
Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1's "WWE Backstage" and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
