Cesaro and Sheamus

Feud and formation

Cesaro (right) wrestling with Sheamus

On the July 19 episode of SmackDown, Cesaro and Sheamus were drafted to the Raw brand in the 2016 WWE draft, being the last two televised picks for the brand.^[3] The two men started a feud shortly after the draft. Cesaro defeated Sheamus in two consecutive matches, resulting in Cesaro earning a match for the United States Championship, which he received on the August 8 episode of Raw against Rusev, but lost after interference from Sheamus. Both men had issues about being on Raw, with Cesaro saying he would have more opportunity on the SmackDown brand, and Sheamus having been in a career slump since The League of Nations dissolved. Raw General Manager Mick Foley then announced that the pair would face each other in a best-of-seven series with the winner to receive a future championship title match. Sheamus won the first match at SummerSlam. Sheamus would defeat Cesaro in the second and third matches, but Cesaro defeated Sheamus in the fourth, fifth, and sixth matches, tying the series 3-3.^[4] At Clash of Champions, Cesaro fought Sheamus to a no contest when neither man could continue, leaving the outcome of their best-of-seven series undecided.^[5] Since Foley did not want to insult the impressive effort and performance the two had in the seventh match, and because he did not want the two to potentially injure themselves from an extra eighth match, he decided to reward both men with a championship match in the form of an opportunity at the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Raw Tag Team Championship reigns (2016–2018)

Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) in a non-title match on the October 24 episode of Raw, and defeated them by disqualification at Hell in a Cell, but did not win the title.^[6] On the November 7 episode of Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus were announced as part of Team Raw for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series on November 20, 2016, which Team Raw won. Cesaro and Sheamus were the sole survivors for their team, and for this reason, Foley gave them a title opportunity the following night on Raw. On Raw, however, Cesaro and Sheamus again failed to capture the tag titles from The New Day following interference from Xavier Woods. After a scripted bar fight on the November 28 edition of Raw where they initially spoke of their apparent split as a tag team, the two men finally began to co-operate, reforming their team.^[7] They lost to The New Day in a triple threat tag team match on the December 12 episode of Raw also involving Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. They received another title shot after winning a fatal four way #1 contenders match at Tribute to the Troops and at Roadblock: End of the Line, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated The New Day to win the Raw Tag Team Championship, marking Cesaro's second reign and Sheamus' first reign. In winning the title, they ended New Day's record setting reign of 483 days. They then retained the title against New Day in a rematch on the December 26 episode of Raw, ending their feud.

On January 16, Cesaro and Sheamus announced their participation in the Royal Rumble match. Before that match, however, they were scheduled to defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against Gallows and Anderson on the Royal Rumble pre-show, where they lost the titles, ending their reign at 42 days. The duo then began to show tension between each other and were both later eliminated from the match by Chris Jericho. Their championship rematch was sabotaged by Enzo Amore and Big Cass, who interfered and caused a disqualification loss for the pair. Cesaro then defeated Enzo before he and Sheamus were defeated by the duo the week after to become the number one contenders to the title. At Fastlane, Cesaro defeated Jinder Mahal. It was later announced that Cesaro and Sheamus were to compete for the Raw Tag Team Championship against Enzo and Cass and Anderson and Gallows in a triple threat ladder match at WrestleMania 33. At the event, however, the match was made a four-way ladder match when the returning Hardy Boyz were added, who won the match.

The following night on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Enzo and Cass to become the number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championship at Payback. At the event, after losing the title match against The Hardys, Cesaro and Sheamus shook their hands out of respect, but returned to the ring and viciously attacked The Hardys as they were celebrating, turning Cesaro and Sheamus heels in the process. They began calling themselves The Bar, stating "We don't just set the bar, we are the bar!", and their entrances became further synchronized, wearing the same attire to the ring. They then won a tag team turmoil to earn another opportunity for the tag team championship at Extreme Rules. The match was made a steel cage match after Matt Hardy defeated Sheamus on the May 22 episode of Raw, in a match where the winner chose the stipulation for their Extreme Rules bout. At the event, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated The Hardy Boyz to win the Raw Tag Team Championship for the second time, making Cesaro a three-time champion and Sheamus a two-time champion whilst also marking the first loss of The Hardys since their return to WWE. The two defended the titles against the Hardy Boyz on the June 12 episode of Raw in a two out of three falls match, where the two teams tied at 1-1 after being counted out. On the July 3 episode of Raw, WWE announced that Cesaro and Sheamus would defend the titles in a 30-Minute Iron Man match against The Hardy Boyz at the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view.^[8] At the event, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated The Hardy Boyz 4-3, retaining the title and ending the feud.

On the July 31 episode, the two mocked Seth Rollins about his shaky partnership with Dean Ambrose backstage, with Rollins challenging one of the two to a match, which Sheamus accepted. Sheamus was defeated by Rollins but the two attacked him after the match, along with Ambrose, who appeared to assist Rollins. The following week, Rollins defeated Sheamus and Ambrose defeated Cesaro. On the August 14 episode of Raw, the two interrupted a physical altercation between Ambrose and Rollins to attack both men. Whilst originally having the upper hand, Rollins and Ambrose fought the two off before reuniting with the signature Shield fist bump. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle emerged following this to announce that Sheamus and Cesaro would defend their championships against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam, in a losing effort, which marked the end of their second reign at 77 days. Cesaro and Sheamus received their rematch on September 24 at the No Mercy pay-per-view, but were unable to capture the title, and during the match, Cesaro legitimately had two of his front teeth knocked out, requiring implants.^[9] The Bar aligned with The Miz as a result of the continuing feud with this eventually resulting in the reunion of the Shield when Rollins and Ambrose re-aligned with Roman Reigns. At TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs, the team of The Miz, Cesaro, Sheamus, Braun Strowman and Kane lost to Ambrose, Rollins and Kurt Angle, who replaced Reigns due to Reigns being removed from the match on medical grounds, in a five-on-three Handicap Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.

Cesaro and Sheamus as Raw Tag Team Champions at WrestleMania 34

On the November 6 episode of Raw in Manchester, England, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated Ambrose and Rollins following a distraction from their former rivals The New Day to win their record-tying third Raw Tag Team Championship, whilst also marking Cesaro’s record-tying fourth individual reign. By winning this match, it set them up to face SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos in a champions vs. champions match at Survivor Series. Cesaro and Sheamus lost the match.^[10] Cesaro and Sheamus then lost the Raw Tag Team Titles to Rollins and Jason Jordan on the Christmas episode of Raw. They had their rematch at the Royal Rumble, where they regained the titles, becoming record four-time champions as a team and marking an individual record fifth reign for Cesaro. On the Raw following the Royal Rumble, Cesaro and Sheamus successfully defended the titles against Titus Worldwide (Titus O'Neil and Apollo Crews), who had defeated Cesaro and Sheamus twice prior to the Royal Rumble. However, they later lost a non-title match to Titus Worldwide, setting up a title match at Elimination Chamber, where Cesaro and Sheamus would retain the titles. The next night on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus would end the feud with Titus Worldwide after sweeping them in a two-out-of-three falls match to retain the titles. After Braun Strowman singlehandedly won a tag team battle royal for a Raw Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 34, Cesaro and Sheamus were scheduled to defend the titles as long as Strowman found a partner. After weeks of failed attempts of finding out who Strowman's partner was, Cesaro and Sheamus walked into WrestleMania clueless. At the event, Strowman chose a 10-year old fan named Nicholas as his partner and they defeated Cesaro and Sheamus for the Raw Tag Team Titles.^[11]

SmackDown (2018–present)

As part of the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Cesaro and Sheamus were traded to SmackDown. Despite the trade, they still had an opportunity to win the Raw Tag Team Championship as they faced Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt at the Greatest Royal Rumble, but failed to win the titles. The team entered a small feud with The New Day losing to them and failing to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. After going on a hiatus, the duo returned in late July to take part in a No. 1 Contenders Tournament for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships and beat The Usos to advance to the finals, where they lost to The New Day. After failing to become number one contenders again, the duo finally were gifted a title match. At Super Show-Down, The Bar failed to win the titles.