Being a top WWE Smackdown superstar, Sheamus is a regular feature whenever WWE goes on their live event European Tour. The fact that he’s a resident of the UK also makes him one of the must-see stars to be on the card. The Irish superstar did compete during the tour this past weekend but he only competed around half the shows while the other UK native, Drew McIntyre worked all the shows.
Sitting out for two of the four scheduled events, caused some curiosity among the fans, who were questioning if Sheamus was perhaps injured during the Thursday or Friday house shows of WWE Smackdown. But it appears that there’s another why Sheamus missed in-ring action on the Saturday and Sunday live events in the UK, and it was nothing related to an injury.
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WWE reportedly made this decision to keep the top WWE Smackdown superstar off the card because they wanted to allow Butch (formerly Pete Dunne) to receive more time in the ring, according to PWInsider. As a result, he challenged the WWE Intercontinental Champion against Ricochet on all four European tour dates. Sami Zayn also joined the bout to make it a Triple Threat match at the London and Paris live events.
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Butch got a name change on WWE Smackdown
Butch along with another newbie Ridge and their mentor Sheamus, most recently competed on TV during the April 22 edition of WWE SmackDown. He lost to Xavier Woods of The New Day on that night to literally lose his mind. Sheamus competed in his last television match against Kofi Kingston of The New Day on the April 22 taping of the Friday Night show that ended in a winning effort.
The change of creative direction for Pete Dunne has been criticized as WWE switched up his gimmick and gave him the name “Butch” upon his arrival to the main roster. But Dunne has no problems since this is just a new direction being given to him on WWE Smackdown. His main focus remains to become successful in the mainstay league irrespective of the name change.
“It’s exciting but it’s also a little bit, I mean, it’s just different,” Butch stated in a recent interview. “But I think it’s time to change it up a little bit. Like I’ve said, five years, fresh start. Why not try something a little new? The thing is with me whether it’s a name or whatever it is that changes. That’s not really what endeared me to the audience in the first place, right?”
