Eric Bischoff has revealed that he had a very different vision for Sheamus during his brief time working on WWE's creative team in 2019, believing the former world champion was capable of far more than the character fans had become used to.

Speaking on 83 Weeks, Bischoff recalled that one of the first WWE Superstars to approach him after he joined SmackDown as Executive Director was Sheamus. The two quickly developed a good rapport, and their conversations centered around how the Irish star could evolve his on screen persona.

Bischoff praised Sheamus as a performer but admitted he felt the presentation had become too reliant on long standing Irish stereotypes.

"I loved his character. I love the idea of Sheamus. I love the Sheamus character, but I was tired of seeing the parody of the typical Irish character," Bischoff explained.

Rather than completely reinventing Sheamus, Bischoff wanted to modernize the character while keeping the qualities that made him successful.

"I saw so much more in him. I would have made his character more relatable and current," Bischoff said. "I felt like the kind of animated, typical badass Irish guy had been done to death."

He added that his goal was not to change Sheamus' personality or motivations, but to move away from what he viewed as an exaggerated portrayal.

"I would have liked to have seen Sheamus come back with the same attitude, the same motivations, the same points of view on things, but in a less animated kind of lucky charms type characterization," Bischoff said.

Ultimately, those creative plans never had the chance to materialize, as Bischoff's run overseeing SmackDown creative ended after only a few months.