At the age of 43 and having been on the main roster since 2009, Sheamus is one of the longest-tenured wrestlers in WWE.
Sheamus has shared the ring with all the greats over the years and now he's facing new talent such as Damian Priest, Riddle, and Humberto Carrillo.
Speaking to Ryan Satin on Out of Character, Sheamus discussed his role as the veteran and working with newer talent.
"I feel like, the last couple of years, I feel like I've mixed in with the lads and the new talent. There are a lot of veterans like myself and I love it. I love an opportunity to go out there with Humberto (Carrillo) or Ricochet or Keith Lee or Riddle. I love going in there with the new lads and tearing it up. I love that role, just getting an opportunity to bring something out of the young fellas and get them show who they are. The stuff I did with Riddle was so much fun. We were both out for the match. At WrestleMania, we were coming up with ideas for each other, that's how awesome it was. It was like, 'You hit me with this, I'll hit you with that, it'll be great.' That's the vibe it's been. We're out for the match. I firmly believe everyone should be out for the match. This shite of being out for yourself and making yourself look good, I just want to have great matches and bring something out of these young kids. I won't be there forever. Trust me, I'll hold on. I'm in better shape now than I was ten years ago and you'll have to drag me out of the door, but I love bringing this energy out of the young fellas and having these bangers matches and getting to show the audience something they haven't seen before," he said.
Sheamus continued by discussing how he's brought out the best in his opponents, saying, "I feel like I've always had solid and hard-hitting matches, but because I was hated so much by the online community it was like, 'This lad carried Sheamus to a great match.' There's a theme there, Sheamus was in all those matches. That's what motivates me. I don't take it personally. Now, I'm at the point where, Humberto has been great, obviously, he smashed my nose in, but that happens. I can't choreograph the physicality of other people. I want to show people how good (Humberto) is. He's unbelievable and he's young and good looking. I hate that he's good looking. I was slapped with the ugly stick. Him and (Ricochet) and Riddle, he's off to the races. He's got his character nailed and he's having great matches. His personality and character, people love and you don't know what he's going to do next. Keith Lee is back and people love Keith. I love being in there, mixing it up, and dragging it out of them. I tell them, 'Don't be afraid to hit me. I'm gonna hit you.' They're not afraid. It's great to see the intensity from these kids. They'll be going when I'm not around and when the young lads come in (when they are the veterans), they have to bring that intensity out of them. That's the cycle and keeps the business going."
Sheamus is currently feuding with Damian Priest, who won a Championship Contenders match on the July 26 episode of WWE Raw.
Elsewhere during the interview, Sheamus discussed the current locker room morale. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
If you missed anything from the August 2 episode of Raw, check out Fightful's full report by clicking here.
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