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| A Warrior's Pride |
FSM |
FSM backs Sheamus all the way for his WWE Title reign
“He’s 6’6”, 272lbs and ran roughshod over the young stars of ECW for the past several months, but tonight he’s come to the big time of Monday Night Raw…” were the words used by ‘Vintage’ Michael Cole to describe Sheamus, WWE’s Celtic Warrior, when he made his debut appearance on Raw at the end of October. “Well, he’s not overly tanned,” Jerry Lawler said in response. Lawler - who doesn’t watch either of WWE’s other two brands and has to be provided with photo cards to help him identify visiting wrestlers – may have been being dismissive but, truth be told, he was voicing the opinion of many WWE fans. After all, how many big hulking wrestlers have we seen debut on Raw, squash a few jobbers and perhaps a midcarder, before getting lost in the mix before winding up being wished all the best in their future endeavours? Why would Sheamus fare any better, especially given that he’s as far from the WWE-approved tanned, tattoo-covered style of wrestler as you can get?
A few months later though and not only have our fears been assuaged, but WWE has made clear its intentions not to let Sheamus fall into the trap that those before him. Comparisons with Snitsky, Mike Knox, Great Khali, Chris Masters and many others aren’t just unfair, they’re also inaccurate. Sure, they may have had a pay-per-view title shot in an Elimination Chamber or Scramble Match, but none of them ever faced the reigning WWE champion one-on-one in a PPV title match within months of debuting, let alone won the belt.
Snitsky was introduced with perhaps the most tasteless angle this side of Mae Young giving birth to a hand, then promptly forgotten about. Knox attacked Rey Mysterio for no apparent reason and then disappeared into obscurity. Khali was given a push to the top but simply didn’t have the mobility or wrestling chops (other than that one he does to the head) to get over. And Chris Masters was introduced with interminable 1993-want-their-gimmick-back Masterlock segments – which, to his credit, he survived – feuded with Shawn Michaels and then fell foul of WWE’s new anti-steroid policy. Point is: WWE never got behind them in the way it has thus far with Sheamus.
Admittedly, FSM has been a fan of the man once known as Sheamus O'Shaunessy for quite a while now; since November 2006 in fact. Yep, that's right – six months before Sheamus even received his developmental contract with WWE, we’d earmarked him for greatness. “Fans can expect to see a 6'6", 19-stone Irish wrecking machine decimate his opponents in the ring,” was how Sheamus described his style to us in a four-page exclusive interview way back in issue six of FSM; at the time, we thought that Sheamus looked set to “make some noise on the biggest stage there is” and he certainly hasn't let us down in that capacity.
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 49 of FSM - available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders and Barnes & Noble, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
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