Sheamus has British wrestling to thank for him becoming a fan of professional wrestling.
The WWE Superstar made history in 2009, becoming the first Irishman to become the WWE Champion. He did this over a decade before Drew McIntyre became the first Briton to become champion.
However, it was the British wrestling on TV that inspired him to join the sport. The stars of World of Sport like Fit Finlay, Kendo Nagasaki and Big Daddy kept him and his grandmother captivated by the TV every Saturday morning on RT1.
Sheamus spoke with Gary Neville on The Overlap US. The WWE star spoke about how he used to watch wrestling with his Grandma on a Saturday, although everything changed when the flashier WWF came to British TV in the late-1980s.
“As a kid, I used to stay in inner-city Dublin. I had my Grandmother and Grandad there. At the time, we only had two channels—RTÉ One and RTÉ Two. We didn’t even have Channel 4, BBC One, BBC Two, or ITV. So, anytime wrestling was on, I’d watch it on Saturday mornings. That’s how it started.” Sheamus said.
“I used to watch World of Sport. It was all about Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki—these British legends. My grandma absolutely loved wrestling. No matter what was going on, she’d watch World of Sport. “
“I’d never seen her swear or anything, but when wrestling was on, there were words coming out of her mouth that I didn’t understand. I’d ask, ‘What does that mean?’ And she’d snap back, ‘Shut up! Don’t say that word again!’”
“Then WWE came along in the mid-to-late ‘80s, and that was a whole other thing. It was larger than life—giants in the ring. Compared to World of Sport, which had great wrestlers, WWE was like something out of an action movie, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Stallone. That image of the ‘80s American action stars really captured me.”
“That’s how I got wrapped up in wrestling. I just fell in love with the business. In the back of my mind, it was always something I wanted to do. I was never good enough to play football, to be honest.”
Sheamus On Growing Up As A Liverpool Fan
The WWE star was reminded of some comments he made about Gary Neville in the past, as the host had a good laugh at the “promo” he cut on him back in 2011.
This prompted Sheamus to explain what it was like growing up as a Liverpool fan. The club were in the shadow of Manchester United in the 1990s and 2000s, as Sir Alex Ferguson made United the biggest club in the country as Liverpool struggled to win trophies.
“It was hard being a Liverpool fan 13 years ago, you know what I mean? Especially when you’re in school with all your mates, living under the shadow of Manchester United. It was just terrible. You have to vent somehow.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a H/T to BritWrestling for the transcription.
