Sheamus Talks Being Disappointed With His Match At 'Mania, Winning Last Year's Royal Rumble, More
Recently, in anticipation of the Royal Rumble, WWE superstar Sheamus was interviewed by Brian Soscia for BeneathTheMat.com and discussed a number of topics. Topics included; what number he wants for the Royal Rumble, what it felt like winning the Rumble last year, Daniel Bryan and their 18 second match at last year's WrestleMania and more. Here are some of the highlights:
On what number he'd prefer to have entering the Royal Rumble: "You know what? I really don't care. If I go in number one, I go in number one. I'm not going to moan about it because, guess what, you've got to go in at that number either way.
"I don't really have a particular number. Everybody knows I love a good fight, I love to be in the thick of the action. I think there's also a lot to be said about going in number one or number two and you last to the very end and win it. It's an amazing feat to do that. Not many people have done that in the history of the Rumble. I think Michaels may have done it, but I think it's a cool way to do it.
"I'm not going to argue either way. The fact that I'm in there with a shot at main eventing WrestleMania and winning the Royal Rumble for the second year in the row, that's good enough for me, bro. I'm fired up and I'm ready to make 2013 better than 2012 as hard as that's going to be. [Laughs.]"
On what it felt like winning the Royal Rumble in 2012: "I felt on top of the world, it was kind of surreal. It's something that doesn't hit you right away. It was like winning the WWE championship. When I had it in my hand, I'm just trying to figure it out. There's a sense that you've done everything to get this far and you're holding the WWE championship or you've won the Royal Rumble — a match I watched when I was a kid.
"A match that hasn't had too many winners and only a couple of guys that have won it multiple times. You can list off the guys fairly easy. You stand in the ring and the WrestleMania sign is firing up and you're standing there.
"No one knew what was going to happen and me and Jericho went back and forth for a long time. There was a lot of almosts and nearly theres and I just remember it being one of the highlights of my career and my life. I'm looking forward to do that again."
On whether or not he was disappointed that he and Daniel Bryan received such a small amount of time at last year's WrestleMania: "You know, of course I was. I'll talk about that as well. The reason behind all of that — the match before on Raw, Bryan used AJ as a distraction to help beat me, I wasn't sure he wasn't going to do that again. When you're champion, you can develop ways to get out of certain things especially when there's no stipulation involved.
"Over the couple of months leading up to 'Mania, there wasn't the biggest build up. There wasn't really the biggest build up for us. Obviously, you had 'Taker and Hunter, Rock and Cena, Jericho and Punk and there feud really started around Rumble time.
"So, I think for me and Bryan, that 18 seconds, even though it was short — I know everyone wanted to see that WrestleMania match between me and Daniel Bryan which we were capable of as we've seen countless times throughout the last couple of years. We went into Extreme Rules, I thought, as the hottest match on that pay-per-view. I know Brock came back and everything, but I'm a firm believer that people really wanted to see me and Bryan go head-to-head. I think that 2 out of 3 Falls match that we had stole the show.
"So, in the bigger picture of WrestleMania and Extreme Rules, I felt — and Bryan feels the same way — the Extreme Rules match was one of our best."
His feelings on Daniel Bryan and his abilities in and out of the ring: "Bryan, to me, is one of the the most talented superstars in there. ... I know Daniel Bryan came in and he got fired after the Nexus thing and he was sort of the scapegoat. Then, he came back again and made a huge impact.
"He was fresh-faced, he was very athletic. People didn't know much about him, you just knew he was good in the ring. Then, if you watch him now if you watch him with AJ and the and the yes/no and the Hell No and the psychiatrist — he has become one of the most well-rounded, talented superstars easily in the WWE.
"And he came back it up in the ring which is hat you need to become a future Hall of Famer. I think he's realy ome into his own and I don't think we've seen the last of each other. He's one of my favorite opponent to get in there with. Who knows? Maybe at the Rumble, there miht be a moment between us two."
Check out the video below for the entire interview.