Sheamus will challenge Austin Theory for the WWE United States Championship on SmackDown, and he addressed his plans for the match during an appearance on WWE’s ‘The Bump.’
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On laying out Theory without a word last week: “Sometimes, there’s a lot of talking on the show, but I think the time for talking was kind of over. I just wanted to make a statement. It’s been a really roller coaster year for me so far in 2023. Everyone knows how much I wanted to get my hands on the Intercontinental Title, and I was so close again at WrestleMania. So I’ve just kind of run out of stuff to say and just wanted to make a statement. Theory will talk until the cows come home, to be honest with you, so it was just really making a point that I want what he has, and that’s the United States Championship.”
On his match against Theory: “I just kind of decided to let my talking happen in the ring. He’s done a lot, he’s done a lot in a short amount of time. He’s the youngest-ever United States Champion. He’s very impressive in the ring, he can do a lot of stuff that I could probably never do. He’s very athletic, but he’s brash, he’s cocky. I get it. He’s come into WWE and in such a short time, he’s been breaking records and he’s been putting his name on the map. But sometimes, you run out of road. Sometimes you can drive into a brick wall, and that brick wall is me. I’m about to give him a different lesson than Edge, Rey, and John have given him. I’m going to show him why I am known as the hardest, toughest, and he’s going to see exactly what it’s like to step in the ring with [me].”
On Theory: “For Theory, he’s got a lot of talent, a lot of potential, but there’s a long road ahead of him. Short-term, he’s done great, but he’s about to go from a boy to a man when he steps in there with me. I know Bobby’s been very physical on him, and we had that triple threat. But triple threats to me are different than singles matches. He’s got to basically step up to me the whole match and see what happens. There’s no better place than Friday Night SmackDown. I’ve made that place my home over the last couple years, and I haven’t had a championship around my waist since I lost that title a couple years ago at SummerSlam to Damian Priest. So I think it’s about time that I got a bit of gold back around my waist, and there’s no [more] perfect time than this Friday.”
Carmelo Hayes will defend the NXT Championship against Bron Breakker in his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts at NXT Battleground on Sunday, and he recently spoke with Busted Open Radio about how the matchup is set to be a full-circle moment for him. Hayes said,
“Yeah, I’m not getting lost in that. It almost feels like that is a true homecoming, like a full circle moment. Even when I was there, I just remember being so motivated after watching that show, and I was already kind of in the business, I was about two years in. Watching that, I was like, ‘Man, I would love to get to this point where I can come home and perform in front of my friends and family.’”
