Sheamus Reacts To Controversial Main Event Finish On WWE SmackDown

Coming off of weeks of matches and promos, Sheamus and GUNTHER met once again over the WWE Intercontinental Championship on the season premiere of "SmackDown." It was a rematch of their highly acclaimed match at last month's Clash at the Castle event. Sheamus ultimately fell just short once again but with much more controversy this time around.

After the match, Sheamus took to Twitter to say "Guntapper." followed by the hashtag "screwjob."

Sheamus had seemingly won the match after holding GUNTHER in a Cloverleaf. But, in an apparent ploy to get out of the hold, GUNTHER tapped the mat two times. Many fans in attendance thought that signaled a submission and a new champion. However, the match continued. The end came after GUNTHER struck Sheamus with a shillelagh he received from Imperium stablemate Ludwig Kaiser out of sight of the referee.

After their first match at Clash at the Castle, Sheamus received a standing ovation from fans for his efforts, and the feud between the two men picked up from there to include their respective stables — Imperium (GUNTHER, Kaiser, and Giovanni Vinci) and the Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch). The trios clashed in a six-man tag team match on the September 9 "SmackDown" and have continued to butt heads since.

The feud between Imperium and the Brawling Brutes isn't over yet, as the two trios will go head-to-head in a "Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook" match on October 8 at the Extreme Rules event. WWE has described the stipulation as "an absolute free-for-all brawl with numerous weapons at every turn that guarantees a display of all-out mayhem."