Sheamus: Future conqueror of the ECW kingdom?

How often do you hear someone saying they want to conquer something? To fully take it over as their own? To take total and full command of an entity, a place, or an area? It's rare to hear it now because it was a term or possibility only in the days of medieval times. Knights of valor defending a kingdom from invaders. Lords and ladies looking to their king for protection. Well, in the ECW "kingdom", there is a man who plans to conquer it and make it his own. His name is Sheamus. From the valleys, hills, and dales of Ireland, he acts the part of the Celtic warrior, looking for competition to eliminate in his quest. Yet, few people realize that his conquest of ECW might actually be a precursor to something big. What if I told you that Sheamus' role in ECW might actually be a part of a specific task in his career? A bit much to consider? Well, before we go there, let's take a look at who Sheamus is.

Wikipedia, Internet masters of the scribes of useful and pointless information, has given me and now you, the reader, the skinny on Sheamus. His real name is Stephen Farrelly, an Irish pro
wrestler who was making his way through Europe as a wrestler. He was born in Cabra, Dublin, but was raised in North Great George's Street. He speaks fluent Irish having attended a Gaelscoil known as Scoil Caoimhin Primary and Secondary School. He sang in the Palestrina Choir under the age of 13, and played Gaelic football for Erin's Isle and played rugby for the National College of Ireland. He was formerly an IT technician and worked as a personal security guard for Bono from U2 and Denise van Outen.

He began his career training under the legendary Larry Sharpe in 2002, debuting 6 days after he completed his training, under the name, Sheamus O'Shaunessy. However, he injured his neck and was forced to stop wrestling for 2 years, potentially returning in 2004. In May of that year, he joined the newly opened wrestling school, Irish Whip Wrestling in Dublin, Ireland. He debuted for this promotion in July of 2004, defeating such stars as Vid Vain, Matt Striker, Xavier, and Mikey Batts. In March of 2005, he became the first International Champion of Irish Whip Wrestling, beating Darren Burridge, Vid Vain, and even a former ally in Red Vinny. Sheamus then began a feud with Burridge, which included numerous happenings like Burridge costing Sheamus the title and a grudge match where Sheamus won. After which, he reclaimed the International belt after taking part in a series of matches involving Vic Viper, Red Vinny, D'Lo Brown, and the Assassin, with a title defense against Vampiro in late 2005.

In 2006, Sheamus turned heel at the Irish Whip Wrestling Halloween event, but not before he retained his title on St. Patrick's Day of that year. After which he went on to wrestle for the All Star Wrestling promotion, unsuccessfully vying for the ASW British Heavyweight Championship. He would then leave for the Real Quality Wrestling promotion. In 2007, he debuted for the aforementioned organization defeating Stu Sanders and feuded with Drew Galloway, which included match results of a double count-out in their first match on April 20, and a no-holds-barred victory for Galloway on June 16. Sheamus left the promotion for the WWE in that year. He had a tryout match after being called up for an on-screen appearance on Raw in England. After that, he was given another tryout, and was signed to a developmental contract. He reported to Florida Championship Wrestling, the WWE's farm system promotion, to train there for his call-up to the main roster. After some key matches, some title wins, and some key feuds, he was called up to the ECW brand and has shown his dominance in three matches. He utilized his strength, power, mild agility, and an impressive finisher to secure those victories. For those wondering, his finisher is a uranage suplex into a backbreaker, which I like to call the "Celtic Sword", as a take-off from Finlay's "Celtic Cross".

But, wait, there's more. It seems that Sheamus was in the movie, "The Escapist", with fellow UK natives, Brian Cox and Joseph Fiennes. He was also in the Irish film, 3 Crosses, and acted as a Celtic Warrior Zombie in the film Bog Body with Vinnie Jones. He was also the rival of Dustin the Turkey on Dustin's show, which lead to a match between the two where Dustin won. He even joined up with Georgie McFly on the Podge and Rodge Show where they were leprechaun wrestlers.

So, that's Sheamus in a nutshell. His quest to conquer ECW is continuing to this day. But, as I said earlier, do you think it's possible that there could be more to this? In all honesty, yes. In fact, Sheamus might not know this, but his quest is very important not just to himself, or to ECW, but to the WWE, as a whole. He must prove to be successful in a sense for the WWE's future. You see, Sheamus has to win....for the sake of the WWE's most sought after and well-received form of talent: the larger-than-life wrestler, or the heavyweight, if you will. Vince has always wanted big men in his company, but now more than ever, he needs them. Sheamus is his latest find, and he has to do well for Vince's sake.

It's no secret that Vince has built his company off the backs of some of the biggest talents to ever come through wrestling. It is also no secret that the majority of that talent was at least 6'4" and about 250 pounds or more. From Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock and from Triple H and the Undertaker to John Cena and Batista, Vince has spent 20+ years building an empire with big men that have proven to be larger-than-life with their personas, their ability, their charisma, and their monstrous appeal. However, Vince has been in a bit of a bind lately. With all this talk about steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, he finds himself wearing thin of talent that is naturally big. In fact, because of this, he has come across a handful of talent that, through those means, have been physically big enough to get his attention, but unable to work a decent match. Sometimes, the converse is the case, as he gets a naturally big man who can work. The problem with the converse is this: how can you tell who's doing it naturally and who isn't? And, if you can tell, how do you decipher who can and who can't work a decent match? It has come to the point to where Vince is considering signing old stars that did or didn't catch a break in the WWE only because he knows they can work. Right now, he has a handful of stars that are naturally big that can work, but they splinter into two groups: stars that have yet to be established but aren't for many means, and stars that are established, but we have seen in the same types of matches against each other for about 5 or 6 years. How many times can we see the same combination of Triple H/Cena/Batista/Orton before we get literally "sick to death" of it? How many times can Edge, the Undertaker, the Big Show, Mark Henry, or Kane be involved in specialty matches or non-specialty matches with or without each other before we run out of attention? This is Sheamus' time to shine. He has to prove that there are naturally gifted big men out there that can work, and that he is one of them. But, he's not alone.

If there are two other big men like him that can work, or can prove they can work, they were both former ECW stars in their own right. They are Jack Swagger and Mike Knox. These two have an amazing aura about them that screams of potential. Swagger is the type of star they wanted Brock Lesnar to be, which was a big man who had the athletic prowess to outwrestle anyone bigger or smaller than him. With the proper tutelage and creativity, he can be a top star for years to come. Mike Knox continues to impress J.R. as he refers to him as a modern-day incarnation of the late Bruiser Brody, a rough and rangy, big-bearded wrestler who knew how to punish his opponents. Knox's only problem is his lack of charisma as he doesn't do much to get himself across as a potential big time player. As for Swagger, he's stuck in the midcard position only due to the fact that the pundits backstage refuse to let him get ahead as a star. We've seen that through his big loss against Cena months ago. Another star who gets honorable mention is Vladimir Kozlov. His staunch wrestling style and stoic demeanor are the stuff of legends. However, he has already exhausted his potential on both Raw and Smackdown, so he finds himself on the bottom rung in ECW for now. Sheamus can easily fit in with these guys as he also has the talent to be a very big deal in the future.

After seeing three or so of his matches, I can almost be sure that Sheamus can get it done in the ring. Sure, he's incredibly pale and has fiery red hair, but that just adds to the flavor of his character. He looks unique. He wrestles uniquely. He even speaks clearly and with a staunch Irish accent. Plus, he's a welcome switch to the last set of Irish people to come through ECW (sorry, folks, but this current iteration of Finlay doesn't do it for me, and Hornswoggle is a pain to watch or deal with). Plus, I'm really supportive of his finishing maneuver. It's painful and effective at the same time. So, what is stopping Sheamus? How about the fact that the backstage pundits can very well book him into a tough spot to recover from? I can see him either getting called up to the main shows too soon and getting lost in the shuffle. Worse yet, I can see him being set up with a group of people shared with a common factor, like, say, everyone in that group being from Europe. The WWE has to book this guy properly. Let his style flourish. Let him blossom into the star that he can be. Don't pull the trigger too soon and please, don't pull the plug, either. If it looks like he can do more, let him. I'm pretty sure he can. For someone who is supposed to be the next generation of the "big man" in the WWE, you should at least give him a fair shake. More stars to place him against in ECW would be a big help.

Sheamus, the Celtic warrior, is here in ECW, looking to conquer the brand for himself. And, with a rather small roster, it might not be that difficult. However, if he wants to fully glorify himself in his success, he must make a calculated effort to establish himself as a conqueror before making the move to Raw and/or Smackdown. If his legacy as conqueror is to be melded into the annals of WWE history in a successful manner, he must plot and plan carefully, or at least hope that those who can arrange his success plot and plan carefully. I'd keep an eye on this powerful prodigy if I were anyone of importance. Sheamus won't just be the face of ECW if all goes well. He'll be the face of the new generation of WWE powerhouses for maybe years to come...