Sheamus Recalls Winning WWE Championship from John Cena Early in His Career at TLC 2009, and Cena Wanting to Put Him Over
“He said, ‘John, what if we…’ John goes, ‘Put the kid over?’ “
During a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Superstar Sheamus opened up about one of the most pivotal moments in his career — defeating John Cena to capture the WWE Championship in 2009, just months after debuting on the main roster.
Sheamus shared the pressure he felt leading up to that career-defining night, revealing that his journey to the top had a rocky start. Recalling his early matches on Monday Night Raw against Jamie Noble, Sheamus said that his first outing was poorly received backstage. “We thought it went well. Then all of a sudden we get told I sh*t the bed. So the match was so bad. That’s when we had the second match, where I Powerbomb him on the floor… but the first thing was I was told, ‘You better bring it in the next one, or you’re going to be dead in the water.’”
After bouncing back with a more physical performance against Noble and then Shelton Benjamin on WWE ECW, Sheamus quickly found himself climbing the ranks. Within weeks, he was competing at Survivor Series and heading into a WWE Championship match against John Cena at WWE’s TLC 2009 PPV.
Sheamus admitted he had no expectation of winning that night. “The day of TLC, I drove into San Antonio, and I fully expected to be told I was losing,” he said. Riding with Arn Anderson and Scott Armstrong, the talk was that it was too early for him to win the title. But everything changed when Vince McMahon called him into a meeting with Cena and Anderson. “Vince turned around to me and John and Arn. He said, ‘John, what if we…’ John goes, ‘Put the kid over?’ Vince is like, ‘Yeah, no problem.’ And that was it. And he walked out, and I’m just sitting there, what the f*ck is happening?”
That night, Sheamus shocked the WWE Universe by defeating John Cena in a Tables Match, becoming WWE Champion just months into his Raw tenure. Reflecting on Cena’s role in that moment, Sheamus said, “That was John, though. Right away, straight up was like, let’s do it.”
The win cemented Sheamus as a top player in WWE and remains one of the most surprising championship victories in company history.
You can check out the complete episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet featuring Sheamus below.
(h/t Alex Hunt and Chris Van Vliet for the transcription/quotes.)
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