Biography
Sheamus is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, performing on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus.
Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European circuit and was a two-time International Heavyweight Champion during his tenure in Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW). After becoming part of the WWE main roster in 2009, he would go on to be a four-time world champion, having held the WWE (World Heavyweight) Championship three times and WWE’s World Heavyweight Championship once.
Similarly, he is the first Irish world champion in WWE history and is also a two-time United States Champion and a five-time tag team champion (four Raw and one SmackDown) with his partner Cesaro. In addition to these championships, he has won the 2010 King of the Ring tournament, the 2012 Royal Rumble match and the 2015 Money in the Bank ladder match, making him only the second wrestler (after Edge) to achieve all three accomplishments.
Early life
Stephen Farrelly was born on 28 January 1978, in Cabra, Dublin, Ireland and was raised on North Great George’s Street in Dublin city. He speaks fluent Irish, having attended Scoil Caoimhin Primary and Coláiste Mhuire Secondary School, a Gaelscoil. During his school years, he sang in the Palestrina Choir until the age of 13; during this time, he appeared on the Late Late Show and Live at Three. Moreover, he played Gaelic football for the Erin’s Isle team where once he was proclaimed sports star of the month.
Similarly, he also played rugby for the National College of Ireland, where he gained a National Diploma. Likewise, he has been a fan of Premier League football club Liverpool F.C. since childhood and also supports both rugby union clubs London Irish and Leinster and rugby league club the New Zealand Warriors. Later, he is a former IT technician, and also worked as security for a nightclub. That led to him to occasionally working as a bodyguard for Bono and Larry Mullen, Jr. of U2, as well as Denise van Outen.
Training and early career (since 2002–2004)
Farrelly’s inspiration into a professional wrestling career came from watching both British wrestling from ITV’s World of Sport and American wrestling from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on Sky One. On the advice of Bret Hart, Farrelly began training in Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory wrestling school in April 2002. Alongside Tank Toland, Cliff Compton, and Cindy Rogers.
Six weeks later he officially debuted as a fan favorite under the name Sheamus O’Shaunessy against Robert Pigeon. It was during this time that he developed the nickname the “Irish Curse” after low-blowing an opponent. He soon suffered a serious neck injury after botching a hip toss which sidetracked his career for two years.
Professional wrestling career
Farrelly soon developed his wrestling character by drawing on Celtic mythology. Wanting to move away from limiting Irish stereotypes of lucky charms, leprechauns, and alcoholism, he instead wanted to portray an Irish warrior. Going to a Gaelscoil, Farelly grew up aware of the four cycles of Irish mythology. And inspired by the artwork of Jim Fitzpatrick, incorporated the sword and axe-wielding imagery into his gimmick. This included the design of his own pendant, the crossos, which combines the Celtic cross with a Celtic War sword to illustrate his character’s “indigenous origins with a hybrid of warrior strength matched with a strong ethical centre”.
British promotions (2005–2007)
As well as wrestling in Ireland, O’Shaunessy occasionally 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. There, 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.
Early appearances
On 13 November 2006, O’Shaunessy and English wrestler Stu Sanders appeared on the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) show Raw. That was at the Manchester Evening News Arena. As part of the security team ejecting D-Generation X from ringside, only for O’Shaunessy to later receive a Pedigree from Triple H. The following day, he and Drew Galloway had a tryout match against each other.
Later, in April 2007, he received another set of tryout matches in Milan and London against Galloway. As well as Sanders, WWE talent Jimmy Wang Yang, and Monster Factory alumnus Domino. This led to an offer and signing of a developmental contract with WWE, at which point he relocated to the United States.
World Heavyweight Champion (since 2012–2013)
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 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.
Likewise, on 29 April at Extreme Rules, Sheamus successfully defended the World Heavyweight Title. That was 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. That was for the World Heavyweight Championship on 20 May at Over the Limit. There 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. Likewise, 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. That was which was the third longest in the title’s history, at 210 days.
Other media
Farrelly (billed as “Sheamus O’Shaunessy”) played the role of “Two Ton” in the 2008 movie The Escapist. Later, in 2009 he appeared as a Celtic Warrior Zombie in the opening sequence of the film Assault of Darkness. And had a small part in Once Upon a Time in Dublin (aka 3 Crosses) as a security guard. He played Rocksteady in 2016’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
He appeared on several episodes of Dustin’s Daily News, where he had a rivalry with Dustin the Turkey, the famous Irish sock puppet; this ended with Dustin and Farrelly having a “fight”, which Dustin won. Farrelly played a leprechaun wrestler on The Podge and Rodge Show. In July 2014, Farrelly made a guest appearance on the USA Network television series Royal Pains.
Net Worth
Similarly, he has an estimated net worth of $7 million.
Overview
- Birth name: Stephen Farrelly
- Date of Birth: 28 January 1978
- Age: 42
- Birth Place: Cabra, Dublin, Ireland
- Nationality: Ireland
- Residence: Augustine, Florida, United States
- ccupation:
- Professional Wrestler and Actor
- Ring name(s): Galldubh, King Sheamus, Sheamus, Sheamus O’Shaunessy, Stephen Farrelly
- Billed height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
- similarly billed weight: 267 lb (121 kg)
- Billed from: “3000 BC”
- Trained by: Larry Sharpe, Jim Molineaux, Irish Whip Wrestling, Mark Starr
- Debut: May 2002
- Net Worth: $7 million
CV Read More David Robinson
Reference Net Worth of Sheamus