Sheamus has some bad memories of the WWE Draft, almost quitting the company during the WWE Brand Split in 2016.
After Shane McMahon’s return to the company in 2016, the WWE decided to once again split the rosters for Raw and Smackdown, something they ended in 2013.
The 2023 WWE Draft is coming up soon, with Sheamus one of the biggest names available to move brands. The former WWE Champion will be high on the list for both brands, although a previous draft almost led to him leaving the company in 2016.
Sheamus WWE Draft
During a WWE 24 documentary about WrestleMania 37 in 2021, Sheamus said he almost quit WWE during the 2015 WWE Draft.
The Celtic Warrior had ended 2015 as the WWE Champion, cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Roman Reigns, following Survivor Series 2015.
He dropped the belt to Reigns prior to the 2016 Royal Rumble, and soon fell down the card. He did lead his own stable, the League of Nations, although they soon became a midcard act within weeks.
By the time the 2016 draft came along, he was a none-issue on the main roster, and was the final man drafted to Raw or Smackdown in the whole draft.
This gave Sheamus something to think about. His fall from grace had been so hard and abrupt that he considered leaving the WWE, not seeing a future if the company felt so little of him now.
Speaking in the WWE Documentary, Sheamus said;
“The draft came and I had just been WWE Champion up until the end of December [2015]. And I was the last pick on the [televised] draft. I’m thinking to myself like,
‘How have I gone from ‘The Guy’ to the last pick of the draft?’ I was like, ‘This is a serious fall from grace.’ I was so angry, man, I was ready… I kind of felt like ready to walk [out]. I really did. I felt like, ‘What am I doing? I’m not enjoying this anymore.’”
Luckily, Sheamus stuck it out in WWE and had the best runs of his career.
He teamed with Cesaro as The Bar, becoming a multi-time tag team champion and being one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history.
He has also recently had some classic matches against GUNTHER, wrestling in the first five-star matches in his career.
The first was a singles match at Clash at the Castle, with the second being a triple threat match, also involving Drew McIntyre, at WrestleMania 39. Gunther won both encounters.
