"He didn't know" - Sheamus was not told about big WWE SmackDown moment, according to former superstar
Ricardo Rodriguez recently recalled how Vince McMahon did not give Sheamus a key detail about one of his most memorable WWE SmackDown segments.
Rodriguez, Alberto Del Rio’s former personal ring announcer, dressed up as Sheamus on the June 8, 2012, episode of SmackDown. The Celtic Warrior knew he was going to be involved in a promo segment that night. However, he was not aware that Del Rio’s ally planned to impersonate him.
On the “Cheap Heat Productions Podcast,” Rodriguez said McMahon wanted to witness the four-time world champion’s genuine reaction:
“What I really enjoyed was that Vince was very keen on keeping people’s genuine reactions. So, when we dressed up as Sheamus, he didn’t know until right before we went out. He knew we were doing a segment, but he didn’t know that I was dressing up as him. Same when we dressed up as [Jack] Swagger and Zeb Colter. They did not know until we did the promo.” [20:04-20:27]
The SmackDown Superstar feuded with Del Rio (w/Rodriguez) throughout the summer of 2012. He retained the World Heavyweight Championship against his rival at Money in the Bank, SummerSlam, and Night of Champions.
How WWE’s higher-ups ensured Sheamus did not know about the segment
On the day of the television taping, Sheamus was asked to lend a pair of his wrestling boots to a WWE production team member.
@WWESheamus @RRWWE The Best #SOS was Ricardo Rodriguez ! :) http://t.co/4wltBObg
The 44-year-old thought the boots were going to be pictured for WWE Magazine. However, he soon realized he had been tricked into giving them to Ricardo Rodriguez:
“When we did the Sheamus thing, they had asked him for his boots because I wore his boots,” Rodriguez continued. “They had told him, I think, they were going to shoot something for the WWE Magazine, so they wanted his boots. I was gonna wear them. When we got to Gorilla [backstage area] right before we went out, he just looked at me and was like, ‘You motherf****r!’” [21:04-21:26]
A decade on, the Irishman remains one of WWE’s most prominent superstars. He recently received rave reviews for his performance against Gunther at Clash at the Castle.
What do you want the Brawling Brutes member to do next in WWE? Let us know in the comments section.
Please credit the “Cheap Heat Productions Podcast” and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.