The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 15

Sheamus (December 13, 2009 - February 21, 2010)

Sheamus: Shocked the world in becoming WWE Champion

When Sheamus won a Battle Royal on the November 23, 2009 RAW to earn a WWE Championship match with John Cena at the TLC pay per view, most expected this was because Cena needed a fresh opponent after a long feud with Randy Orton.

The inexperienced Sheamus would benefit from the exposure at the low-pressure December show, which usually is nothing more than a placeholder between the big shows, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble.

It was a shocker then, when Sheamus pushed Cena through a table to win their Tables Match at TLC, and the WWE Championship.

Sheamus had only made his Raw debut on October 26, 2009, just six weeks before TLC. He had only debuted as part of the main roster four months earlier than that on the ECW brand on June 30, 2009. Sheamus had climbed to the pinnacle of WWE in just six months; making him the second-fastest WWE superstar to do so, behind Brock Lesnar.

Sheamus was pals with Triple H and it would be The Game with whom he would clash at the following year's WrestleMania.

However, before that he managed to overcome Randy Orton at the Royal Rumble before dropping the belt back to Cena inside the Elimination Chamber.

The Irishman would not be separated from the gold for long though as the youngster would soon cement himself as a permanent headline fixture for years to come.