15 Exact Moments Failed WWE Gimmicks Actually Got Over
9. Sheamus
This was Triple H’s second big flex in Cardiff.
Sheamus was a valuable midcard asset for several years under Vince McMahon. As with most wrestlers of his generation, he did a lot of stuff. Some of it was good (The Bar, an atypically stiff series of matches with Drew McIntyre), most of it was bad, but not exactly his fault (urine-based feuds with Jeff Hardy, some utterly lame sh*t with Ricochet stealing his clothes).
The Brawling Brutes was a cartoonish farce. Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Pete ‘Butch’ Dunne dressed up as the lads from ‘Peaky Blinders’, which was the most uninspired “they’re from across the pond” look in forever. Sheamus “looked stupid”, yet again. WWE was constantly trying to dress him up as something other than an enduring badass because how is that going to get him over?
It got him over to phenomenal effect at Clash At The Castle. As the ‘Paul Levesque Era’ took hold, WWE mostly distanced itself from strong, credible in-ring action. Hooded figures turning heel, yeeting, and ref bumps dumbed the early promise down, training the crowd not to care about the wrestling, which is a shame: in Cardiff, Sheamus got over as a cult fan favourite through incredible babyface fire and a brilliant grasp of selling. He elicited sad groans and then a standing ovation when his back gave out, leading to an incredible loss against Gunther.
By 2026, the redemption story had faded. Fewer and fewer people fantasy-booked that elusive Intercontinental title win at WrestleMania. Still: Sheamus enjoyed a great period between 2022 and 2023, overdue reward for putting forth the maximum effort even when WWE was a laughing stock.