WRESTLERS from Ireland

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Irish Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Irish Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Sheamus (1978 - )

With an HPI of 39.85, Sheamus is the most famous Irish Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages on wikipedia.

Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European independent circuit. After becoming part of WWE's main roster in 2009, he went on to become a four-time world champion, having held the WWE Championship three times and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once. He is the first Irish world champion in WWE history, and is also a three-time United States Champion and a five-time tag team champion (four Raw and one SmackDown) with his tag team partner Cesaro. In addition to these championships, he also won the 2010 King of the Ring tournament, the 2012 Royal Rumble match, and the 2015 Money in the Bank ladder match, making him the second wrestler (after Edge) to achieve all three accomplishments.

2. Finn Bálor (1981 - )

With an HPI of 38.36, Finn Bálor is the 2nd most famous Irish Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Fergal Devitt (born 25 July 1981) is an Irish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Finn Bálor (). He is a member of The Judgment Day stable. Devitt began his career in 2001, before becoming widely known for his tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), under the ring name Prince Devitt. Within the promotion, he is a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, having held the title twice with Minoru and four times with Ryusuke Taguchi. He is also a two-time winner of the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, having won in 2010 and 2013, as well as being a founding member and the original leader of the Bullet Club stable. Through NJPW's working relationship with Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Devitt also wrestled there, becoming a one-time NWA World Historic Middleweight Champion. He also wrestled for a number of independent promotions, becoming a one-time ICW Zero-G Champion, one-time RPW British Cruiserweight Champion and a two-time NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion. After signing with WWE's developmental system, NXT, and adopting his current ring name, Bálor won the NXT Championship, with his 292-day reign being the longest in the championship's history until March 2020. Also during his time in NXT, Bálor became the first co-winner of the inaugural Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Samoa Joe. Shortly after arriving on the main roster, Bálor became the first wrestler in WWE history to win a world title in their pay-per-view debut, the second ever Irish world champion in WWE (after Sheamus) as well as becoming the quickest wrestler in WWE history to win a world title at 27 days following his main roster debut by becoming the inaugural WWE Universal Champion at SummerSlam 2016. Bálor is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a one-time United States Champion. Bálor became a Grand Slam Champion on September 2, 2023, at Payback, winning the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.

3. Becky Lynch (1987 - )

With an HPI of 36.44, Becky Lynch is the 3rd most famous Irish Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Rebecca Quin (born 30 January 1987) is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE under the ring name Becky Lynch, where she performs on the Raw brand. Lynch is one of WWE's most recognizable and highest-paid wrestlers. Twitter named her sixth on their list of Top Female Athletes Worldwide in 2019. Quin began training as a professional wrestler in 2002. Initially working in Ireland, and occasionally teaming with her brother using the ring name Rebecca Knox, she soon began wrestling across Europe and North America on the independent circuit for various promotions. She most notably competed in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling and became the inaugural SuperGirls Champion in 2005. In 2006, Quin had a severe head injury during a match which kept her away from wrestling for several years. She returned in 2012 and signed a contract with WWE in 2013, assigned to the developmental territory at NXT. Following her push to WWE's main roster, she became the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion at Backlash 2016 and has held the title four times. In 2018, Lynch transitioned to a more aggressive character starting at SummerSlam, when she attacked Charlotte Flair, presenting herself as an unfairly treated underdog and dubbing herself "The Man", resulting in a large increase in her popularity. In 2019, she won a Royal Rumble match, and at WrestleMania 35 won both the Raw Women's Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship, making her the first woman to hold both titles simultaneously and a four-time WWE women's champion. She lost the SmackDown title the following month but then set the record for the longest reign as Raw Women's Champion at 399 days until going on a hiatus due to pregnancy in May 2020. In August 2021, Lynch returned at SummerSlam to confront SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair, whom she would defeat seconds later to become a four-time SmackDown Women's Champion. With her WWE Women's Tag Team Championship win in early 2023, she became WWE's Sixth Women's Triple Crown Champion, and then after winning the NXT Women's Championship in September 2023, she became WWE's Sixth Women's Grand Slam Champion.