Sheamus Returns to WWE Raw and Attacks Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler

Sheamus had been out of action since November due to multiple injuries, but the Celtic Warrior made his return Monday night on Raw one day after WrestleMania. 

He attacked Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler in a clear heel turn. WWE provided pictures of Sheamus and his new hairstyle: 

The 37-year-old Superstar was scheduled to be part of John Cena's team at Survivor Series; however, his health prevented him from competing, according to WWE.com:

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The Celtic Warrior suffered a left cervical neurapraxia (stinger in arm), bone spurring, narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis) and narrowing of the nerve canals (neuroforaminal) along with nerve compression in his neck. Sheamus will not be able to compete this Sunday at Survivor Series.

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Many figured those injuries were storyline-related rather than legitimate after an on-screen attack at the hands of Mark Henry, but The Irish Curse made it clear he was actually on the shelf:

Sheamus was ultimately forced to undergo surgery a couple of days after WWE provided an update on his status, as seen in this photo, courtesy of his Twitter account:

That led to Sheamus being off WWE programming for a couple of months, but he resurfaced backstage in Dallas during the Jan. 19 edition of Monday Night Raw.

As evidenced by this video, courtesy of WWE's official Twitter account, the three-time world champion dropped hints that his return was potentially on the horizon:

He didn't appear in the Royal Rumble as many expected, but vignettes began airing on the Feb. 9 edition of Monday Night Raw in order to hype his comeback:

Sheamus has been an absolute workhorse for WWE since debuting on ECW in 2009. He is among the best and most underrated in-ring workers on the entire roster, and it hasn't been uncommon for him to participate in multiple televised matches per week.

Over the past couple of years, though, the Irish Superstar has struggled to stay healthy. In addition to his most recent injury, Sheamus suffered a torn labrum in late 2013, per WWE.com.

After missing roughly five months of action, Sheamus returned as a surprise entrant in the 2014 Royal Rumble and was among the final three participants.

He went on to win the United States Championship a few months later, but he was never in position to gain any type of momentum.

Sheamus' storyline development was limited at best, and he ultimately dropped the strap to Rusev in November. In some ways, it is fair to say the injury was a blessing in disguise due to the fact that his character had grown stale.

Fans have long wanted WWE to go in a different direction with Sheamus to freshen him up, and the company now has an opportunity to do that.

It passed up on that chance previously, but now is the time to strike, as Sheamus is essentially working with a clean slate.

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