Sheamus has pinned Matt Riddle to win the WWE United States Championship for the third time.
Following a hard-hitting contest, Sheamus countered a Springboard Moonsault with a devastating Brogue Kick to pin the Original Bro for the one, two three.
Sheamus’ most famous WrestleMaina appearance came at WrestleMania 28 where he pinned Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds to win the World Heavyweight Championship. In homage to that match the Celtic Warrior appeared wearing the same gear that he wore on that famous night in Miami nine years ago.
The match itself was everything that fans could have hoped for. Right from the opening bell the two combatants traded stiff strikes with neither taking a backward step.
Riddle had the first notable opportunity to win the match after hitting Sheamus with a modified Jackhammer but the former world champion kicked out at two.
The bone-crunching strikes continued to reign down throughout, but the match narrowly avoided coming to an unfortunate end late on. With Sheamus and Riddle wrapped together on the top rope, the Celtic Warrior attempted to hit an Avalanche Wight Noise on the champion, but slipped on the ropes.
As Riddle attempted to swing the momentum back in his favour with a Springboard Moonsault, Sheamus countered with a Brogue Kick to finally keep a bloodied Riddle down.
The #CelticWarrior@WWESheamus is your NEW #USChampion, fella! #AndNew#WrestleMania@SuperKingofBrospic.twitter.com/96301AzY4O
— WWE (@WWE) April 12, 2021
Riddle had won the US Championship from former champion Bobby Lashley at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in February. In a triple threat match for the title, Riddle pinned the other competitor John Morrison after hitting him with his ‘Bro-Derek finishing move. Morrison himself was a late replacement in the match for Keith Lee who has not been on WWE television in several weeks.
The WWE United States Championship had previously only changed hands five times in WrestleMania history. The last time came at WrestleMania 34 in 2018. In a fatal four-way match Jinder Mahal defeated Bobby Roode, Rusev, and the reigning champion Randy Orton to secure the gold.
You can follow all of the action from night two of WresteMania 37 here on Inside The Ropes.