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Happy St.Patrick's Day weekend 2018 everyone!
I have decided to take the occasion to look at the Irish Superstars in WWE, from the past and present.
We'll focus on Irish-born specifically.
Background
As an Irish WWE Fan, there has been much for me to be proud of in terms of our countrymen and women's accolades in the biggest pro wrestling company worldwide.
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Considering Ireland is a small nation of approximately 4-5 million people (6 million including Northern Ireland), it is hard to believe that when we talk of World Championship reigns in WWE, Irish wrestlers have outdone those from much bigger countries, such as Britain, Germany, France, Italy, China, and India (although Jinder Mahal's WWE Title win meant Indians have held a World Championship twice, The Great Khali being the other man).
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Irish male wrestlers have had an impressive five (a Finlay World Title reign in WCW could be counted as a sixth) World Championship wins altogether, with Sheamus being a two-time WWE Champion (2009, 2010) a one-time World Heavyweight Champion (2012), and a one-time WWE World Heavyweight Titleholder, whilst Finn Balor was the first-ever Universal Champion back in 2016.
The now
Sheamus, who is from Dublin, is probably the most prestigious Irish WWE Superstar of all-time.
The list for The Celtic Warrior's achievements, since starting on the WWE main roster back in 2009, are nearly endless.
Outside of his four, World Title reigns that I've already mentioned, Sheamus is a one-time United States Champion, one-time Royal Rumble winner (2012), one-time Money in the Bank winner (2015), one-time King of the Ring winner (2010).
Currently, Sheamus is ruling the roost in the Tag Team Division with Cesaro as the RAW Tag Team Champions, and this is their fourth time with the belts (No one has had more reigns with the RAW Tag Team Titles than The Bar).
Some fans try to say that Sheamus' success is only down to him being a friend of Triple H's, but his tremendous in-ring ability, which sometimes goes underrated, speaks for itself, and his heel persona is terrific too.
Terrific, because Sheamus always gets the bad guy reaction he is supposed too, unlike a lot of the modern-day heels in WWE. I mean, in late 2015, he then managed to get Roman Reigns babyface reactions from the crowd.
It is sad to hear that Sheamus maybe on borrowed time in the wrestling, which is why WWE has kept Cesaro and him together tag-teaming in order to preserve his career, as the 40-year old is apparently suffering from spinal stenosis,
There is no doubt that Sheamus is a future Hall of Famer, and he has come along way since his days with the Irish Whip Wrestling Promotion.
Sheamus has paved the way for the Irish in the WWE.
For now, though, it looks like Sheamus will compete at WrestleMania 34 in a few weeks time in New Orleans, with Cesaro and he defending their Championships against Braun Strowman (who might get a partner for the match).
The present and the future
Finn Balor, on the other hand, is relatively new in WWE, but he has already made a big impact.
From Bray, Co. Wicklow, which is close to Dublin, Balor made a name for himself as Fergal Devitt in New Japan Pro Wrestling as leader of The Bullet Club.
When he came to WWE NXT in 2014, Balor became an instant hit, and soon was NXT Champion, beating Kevin Owen for the Title in a WWE Network Special in Japan.
The Demon King went onto set the record for the longest-ever reign with the NXT Championship, holding it for 293 days.
When Balor reached the main roster following the WWE Draft in July 2016, in which he was the fifth all-around choice, which shows how highly WWE rated him.
The brand split saw a new World Championship made for RAW, as SmackDown got the WWE Championship.
This title was named the Universal Title.
WWE had Finn Balor and Seth Rollins earn themselves a shot at the Title, which they faced off for at SummerSlam 2016.
Despite the fans in Brooklyn being pretty annoyed with WWE for the design of the Universal Title when they unveiled it at the event, which kind of ruined the actual match, Balor, in his Demon King attire, made history by becoming the inaugural Universal Champion.
But, due to a shoulder injury suffered in the match, Balor had to relinquish his title, and he didn't return till the RAW after WrestleMania 33.
Balor was speculated as an opponent for the current Universal Champion Brock Lesnar over the past few months, but that bout never happened, with some saying Vince McMahon thinks he isn't over enough with fans.
I don't believe this gossip, and I am optimistic WWE are just biding their time before giving Balor a big push again.
And it looks like that is what could be coming, as Balor is the odds-on favorite to win the InterContinential Title at WrestleMania 34 in a triple threat match with Seth Rollins and The Miz (who is the IC Champion at the moment).
Either way, Balor is guaranteed to be on the WM card, unlike last year when he was injured, and when you look at it from that perspective, that is the most important thing.
Balor has many years ahead of him in WWE, and let's just hope WWE utilize him in a way that is fitting for his talent.
Finn certainly does Ireland proud.
The Irish Lasskicker Becky Lynch (who was trained by Finn Balor), the current SmackDown Superstar, has only been with the WWE for a few years and has already achieved so much.
Lynch became known as one of the Four HorseWomen along with Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Charlotte for revolutionizing women's wrestling when they were in NXT, before bringing this momentum onto the main roster, when she debuted in 2015.
After the 2016 Brand Split, Lynch soon became the inaugural SmackDown Live Women's Champion and, went onto hold it a second-time after that too. These were huge landmarks for her.
Many would credit the Four HorseWomen for the Women's evolution we are seeing in WWE today, and Lynch is a big part of this, helping to show that when given the chance, Women can be on the same level as Men.
Although Lynch has not been featuring on SmackDown as well as she was last year, Becky is still a top woman's star and she will be for many more years to come.
A move to RAW after WrestleMania 34 could be what the doctor has ordered.
The Past
Some fans may remember Velvet McIntyre, a prominent women's wrestler in the 1980s
The Irish native, born in Dublin, was the first ever Irish Women's Champion in the WWE (WWF at the time), winning the WWF Women's Championship and, maybe even more interestingly, the now extinct WWF Women's Tag Team Championships with Princess Victoria (who was then later replaced by Desiree Petersen).
McIntyre was a pioneer in Women's Wrestling.
She left the WWE in the early 1990s when the WWE got rid of the Women's Division for a few years, and in 1998, the Irish-Canadian McIntyre retired from the ring after giving birth to Twins.
McIntyre is now 55 years of age and, resides in Canada.
I can't believe Velvet has not been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame yet, surprisingly.
The past who helped the future
Fit Finlay is a wrestling legend. The Belfast Bruiser, who you could technically add to the list of Irish World Champions in WWE, because of his WCW Television World Championship reign back in 1998, is well-known for his time in the mid-card in WWE.
A one-time US Champion who was heavily focused on SmackDown and ECW from about 2006 till his WWE departure in 2010, fans loved his alliance with Hornswoggle.
And I mean, who can forget his role as one of the henchmen along with William Regal to King Booker.
Finlay wrestled on multiple WrestleManias (including MITB Ladder Matches, and a Belfast Street Fight with JBL at WM 24).
Finlay was an immaculate wrestler, even more so than he is given credit for. He knew how to make his opponent look like a million bucks, but made himself look strong at the same time.
You can tell that he came from a professional wrestling family, and his son, David Finlay, wrestles for NJPW now.
Sadly, Finlay's in-ring career ended with the company back 8 years ago when he was involved in a controversy about the US National Anthem.
Maybe though, it is fair to say the Finlay's biggest contribution was outside the ring. In the early 2000s, when he was recovering from a serious injury that, he took a trainer's role with WWE.
In that job, Finlay helped developed the likes of Randy Orton and John Cena, who have been WWE's two top stars for the last 14 years or so.
Like Shawn Michaels getting more credit than William Regal for training Daniel Bryan, I think Finlay's help in Orton and Cena's careers go under the radar.
And to believe this isn't even his biggest achievement as a trainer.
Finlay was then given the task by WWE to change Women's Wrestling.
And so he did.
WWE wanted to move away from the dreaded gimmicky matches they limited their Women Superstars, such as the Bra and Panties' matches and the Pillow Fights etc.
Finlay was able to develop the Women to have proper wrestling matches and, helped remove the stigma that they couldn't do what the men could do, helping the likes of Trish Stratus, Lita, and Victoria to become fan favorites and put on classics without restrictive movesets.
Lita and Trish Stratus soon became the first-ever women to main event RAW for the Women's Championship.
Finlay could be called the flag bearer of the Women's evolution in WWE, even before the likes of Triple H and Mick Foley.
Finlay is presently a producer in WWE, helping wrestlers of today to put together matches.
The Future
Regarding the future, two Irish wrestlers presently in WWE standout, with Killian Dain in NXT's Sanity, looking like a World Champion already.
The Northern Irish man from Belfast is built like a tank and it was cool to see him appear in last year's Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Dain will surely be a star on the main roster.
Jordan Devlin, who was trained by Finn Balor, is the other wrestler who I think could be a future star. He wrestled in the WWE UK Tournament and had been on the WWE UK Tours.
Devlin is a star on the Irish Indy Scene with Over The Top Wrestling and he is an extremely agile wrestler.
Hopefully, Devlin and the rest of the UK and Ireland Division will get more attention from WWE in the coming months.
Devlin appeared on 205 Live back in November in a segment involving then-Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore
Notable Mentions
Also, shout out to the McMahon Family for always being loud and proud of their Irish Heritage. It is key to note that without them, WWE wouldn't have even existed to give all these talented Irish athletes great opportunities.
For imitating an Irish Leprechaun as Finlay's sidekick, Hornswoggle, who is really from the US, deserves some credit.
The Hardy Boyz, Shannon Moore, CM Punk, The Undertaker, John Cena and AJ Styles all have Irish descent in their families too.
What Conor McGregor says applies to the Irish in WWE just as much as it does in the UFC.
'We're not here to take part, we're here to takeover.'
