Eric Escobar says he had some interesting encounters with Sheamus back in their developmental days. The former FCW Heavyweight Champion and SmackDown star was on the Pancakes & Powerslams Show, and was asked about the rumors of Sheamus being difficult to deal with in the ring.
“He always wanted to be the dominant big guy. If I stand next to you, we’re basically the same size, so there’s no big guy/little guy situation going on here. When he got in the mindset that he was big guy and I was little guy, he got a little bit more hesitant about a few things in the match,” Escobar said of Sheamus in FCW.
Escobar revealed that several other wrestlers had approached him and said Sheamus was being too stiff with them, and would approach Escobar for guidance on the situation due to his tenure in FCW. He said some newer wrestlers were afraid to stiff Sheamus back because they didn’t want to ruffle any feathers. Escobar recalled a match where he felt Sheamus was too stiff with him, so he says he simply hit him back and that the Irish superstar seemed to get the point.
“I always give the guys a ‘three strike rule.’ So he pops me one, and I go, okay – one. He pops me twice – two. He pops he three times – okay, my turn,” said Escobar. “So, after I popped him back, I left my [hand print] stamped on his back for like a week. I think after that, we had no more problems. He wasn’t stiff or anything.”
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