WWE's Sheamus Recalls Picking Up Bad Habits, Scrapped Storyline Plans

Like many WWE stars, Sheamus first got his break on the indies before getting the chance to sign with WWE, and he admitted that he learned a lot of bad habits that brought him back down to reality immediately. "There's a style that WWE have, the style they want you to have, and I had to go back and re-learn a lot of stuff," he told "Virgin Media Sports Stories." "That was tough for me, because I wasn't starting from scratch but I had to rethink a lot of things and re-learn a lot of things. It really was a big kick to my ego, you think you're doing things great, and, no, no, you're doing everything wrong. That was hard." 

Sheamus' main roster debut eventually took place on WWE's version of ECW, which he describes as a "sink or swim" moment. However, WWE originally had plans to debut him earlier in 2008, but Vince McMahon ended up putting a stop to it. "Mark Henry and Tony Atlas were in a feud with Fit Finlay, and they were going to bring me up with Fit Finlay at a pay-per-view," he said. "I'd been there about a year but it all got scratched. Vince asked what's the plans after that and they didn't have any plans after it."

His debut eventually took place against a local talent as part of ECW's new superstar initiative, and he believes he proved he could swim at that level. However, it was a feud against a veteran that truly cemented him. "I went into a feud with Goldust, killed the feud, awesome matches, kind of reinvigorated Goldust," he said. "That was kind of the moment I knew I could bring something out of someone that hadn't been seen in a while, aggressive side. Because I hit hard."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Virgin Media Sport Stories" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.