It has emerged that multiple time WWE World Champion Sheamus is leaving the company upon the expiration of his contract.
UPDATE: Sheamus’ WWE departure confirmed – click here for the latest.
Sheamus had been one of WWE’s longest tenured talents, initially signing all the way back in 2007.
Sheamus is now on his way out of WWE when his contract expires, which is expected to happen soon, as reported by Fightful Select.
Sheamus wasn’t outright released, but instead turned down a contract extension offer.
Fightful’s report notes that WWE approached Sheamus to restructure his contract while he was injured, and he “swiftly rejected” that approach.
Rather than New Day who were released when they declined that sort of approach, Sheamus wasn’t released because his contract was coming up soon anyway – which is what’s happening now.
In just the past few days, Sheamus had been posting memes about never becoming the Intercontinental Champion, which it seemed was him teasing a return from injury to go after the title, but evidently that isn’t the case.
Today, upon the news of him leaving WWE, he has updated his social media profiles to his real name, and changed his bio to simply “Pro Wrestler.”
As noted, Sheamus joined WWE developmental back in 2007 and had a pretty quick call-up to the main roster in 2009.
He also had a very quick push to the top of the main roster after that point, as TLC 2009 saw him win the WWE Championship from John Cena.
Throughout his WWE tenure, Sheamus’ legacy is one of someone who won pretty much every single thing he could possibly win with the exception of the aforementioned Intercontinental Title.
He’s a four-time World Champion, three-time United States Champion, and a five-time Tag Team Champion – all with Cesaro/Claudio Castagnoli as The Bar.
He also won the 2010 King of the Ring tournament, the 2012 Royal Rumble match, and the 2015 Money in the Bank ladder match.
His final WWE match will go down as also being the final Raw match of John Cena, when they teamed with Rey Mysterio against Judgment Day in Madison Square Garden this past November.
We wish Sheamus all the best for whatever his future holds.
Where Will Sheamus Go Next After Leaving WWE
Sheamus has spent his entire US wrestling career with WWE for the past 19 years, so it’s weird to even think of him being somewhere else.
The obvious landing spot, as with almost all departing WWE talents, would be AEW, but of course AEW does need to be mindful about not bringing in too many ex-WWE stars.
Having said that, AEW has brought in many, many former WWE talents who have far less star power and far less acclaim than Sheamus, so he certainly can’t be ruled out as a potential pickup.
AEW would open up the possibility of a reunion with Claudio Castagnoli, which could be an attractive prospect for all involved.
There’s also TNA, but there have to be question marks over whether they’d financially give Sheamus what he’d be looking for coming out of an obviously luctrative WWE deal.
The alternative is that he goes out to conquer the indies, either in the US or worldwide, with runs in Europe or even Asia with Jinder Mahal’s new WXM promotion, which would be a pretty exciting scenario.
Many fans have also mentioned the possibility of a run in Japan including NJPW’s G1 Climax tournament.
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