Sheamus will meet Riddle for the United States Championship at WrestleMania after the Irishman defeated the ‘Original Bro’ on Raw.
A week ago Riddle interrupted a frustrated Sheamus during a backstage interview. Not taking kindly to the interruption, Sheamus clobbered Riddle with his own scooter, leaving the US Champion laying.
In a hard-hitting match on Raw, Sheamus defeated Riddle with a bicycle knee-strike to his temple.
Riddle 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.
Later in the night, Lashley attacked WWE Champion Drew McIntyre allowing The Miz to cash in his Money In The Bank contract on the Scotsman. Less than two weeks later Lashley decimated The Miz to claim his first WWE Championship.
The US Title is Riddle’s first championship on the WWE main roster. He had previously held the NXT Tag Team Championships with Pete Dunne as The BroserWeights. Sheamus is a former two-time United States Champion. Winning the first of those titles from Daniel Bryan in 2011. The Celtic Warrior’s second reign began after winning a battle royal for the title on Raw in May 2014. That championship win ended the near-year-long reign of Dean Ambrose.
The WWE United States Championship has 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.