Cesaro vs. Sheamus: Winner and Reaction from WWE SummerSlam 2016

Sheamus drew first blood in his best-of-seven series against Cesaro on Sunday night at WWE SummerSlam, picking up a victory at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

WWE captured a photo of the pinfall as well as some of the video highlights: 

Ringside Xcess and Will Pruett of ProWrestling.net provided their thoughts on the hard-hitting match:

Cesaro and Sheamus faced off on a couple of occasions during the lead-up to SummerSlam, one of which resulted in the winner earning a title shot. The Swiss Superman was victorious and attempted to take the United States Championship from Rusev but lost when Sheamus interfered.

That made the feud between Cesaro and The Celtic Warrior heat up even more, and they nearly came to blows when Cesaro cost Sheamus a match against Sami Zayn on the go-home episode of Raw prior to SummerSlam.

In an effort to diffuse the situation, Raw general manager Mick Foley announced a best-of-seven series between the European Superstars, with the first match taking place at SummerSlam.

Following that decision, Cesaro seemed to be up for the challenge and happy to focus on the in-ring product:

Following his selection in the WWE draft, Cesaro cut a promo that suggested he was unhappy both with how long he lasted in the draft and the fact that he went to Raw rather than SmackDown.

SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan added some fuel to the fire when Foley invited him to Raw, as he made it clear that he believed the former U.S. and tag team champion was underutilized on the red brand.

Foley attempted to prove Bryan wrong by giving both Cesaro and Sheamus a platform to showcase their in-ring skills.

They did so Sunday, but it was merely the beginning of what promises to be a long and arduous battle.

A best-of-seven series could end after four matches, but they tend to go the distance within the realm of professional wrestling, which means Cesaro and Sheamus figure to lock horns on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future.

They put on an entertaining, hard-hitting match Sunday, but the big challenge will be keeping things fresh and ensuring that the fans are invested over the course of several bouts.

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