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Sheamus's title shot against John Cena at the next PPV has been the subject of a lot of debate. The majority seems to be strongly against this unproven newcomer getting a PPV title shot.
I'm all for it, regardless of Sheamus's lack of track record. I'm all for it, even though part of his mega-push is because he's Triple H's workout pal and new traveling mate.
I can see a case being made that someone else deserved it first since Sheamus is so new, but looking at the Raw roster, there weren't a lot of options in terms of heels. The candidates would be The Miz, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, Carlito, Chris Masters, and Jack Swagger.
The Miz had a short program with Cena already. I think they blew it off too quickly, and maybe they had their reasons - justified or not - for wanting to cool off Miz's push a little. But going back to Miz now would have seemed like a "been there, done that" scenario.
DiBiase and Rhodes are being "saved" for later. They've been pushed as being a notch below a top singles heel slot at this point, and their slow build I think has been measured and effective. Rushing one of them into a spot against Cena where they'd have to job to him would hurt whatever the long-term plan is for them to move solidly into the top tier as credible believable heel title contenders.
Jack Swagger, as noted by Jim Ross, may have some discipline or dedication or attitude issues that is holding back management wanting to put him in a coveted top spot against Cena. He's got most of the intangibles and tangibles to be a top star some day, but WWE is careful not to rush someone into a top spot if they think it might be premature or go to their head and cause further issues.
As for Chris Masters, he's been pushed mostly as a mid-card comedy figure, so it'd take a year of rebuilding him to be a credible threat to Cena.
Sheamus may not be the ideal option, but he's better than WWE going back to one of the usual candidates. We've seen years of Cena against the top tier of Randy Orton, Edge, Big Show, and Triple H. It feels like he feuded with Orton non-stop for the last three or four years.
Pushing Sheamus is the best available option, even including moving someone from another brand to Raw. The timing is right because the Smackdown main event is strong enough to carry the top spot on the PPV, plus DX vs. Chris Jericho & Big Show is marquee enough to also help carry the show. Cena vs. Sheamus is likely seen by fans as a third-from-the-top attraction. One of the benefits of the brand split is being able to have two top tier established names fighting for one world title, while the other world title features a fresher match that might help elevate a future star such as Sheamus.
There's also something to be said for "shooting someone to the top" quickly before they're "defined down" in the eyes of fans as a second-tier heel. Sheamus hasn't been a bumping machine for a top babyface such as DiBiase and Rhodes have been for Cena and DX. Sheamus hasn't done TV jobs in recent years like Masters or Carlito. Sheamus hasn't lost TV matches to top tier acts like Swagger has.
He's also impressed management (which includes Triple H) with his attitude and outlook enough to have earned their trust to have this spot. That's a big deal. There have been times WWE has seemed to overlook talent in the past, and later it turned out there was good reason behind the scenes. Sheamus obviously hasn't set off any warning signals that others in his position have in the past, thus he's getting shot to the top.
Sheamus may lose clean, or he may be a foe for Cena who fills a couple PPVs between now and WrestleMania. Either way, he'll come out of this feud with Cena slightly elevated in the eyes of fans. Even if fans are mostly not ready to accept him as a top heel threat right now, the mere fact that he visited the top tier briefly will help his ascension in credibility over the next year or so.
Sometimes WWE has to gamble on someone they think is a good risk. Sheamus has a unique look, a presence on the mic, enough in-ring competence at this stage of his career, and obviously the right friends and/or attitude behind the scenes to be worth gambling on. He's not likely to be the next heel version of Goldberg who turns into this mega-star overnight, but I'd like to see WWE take calculated risks such as this more often. It shakes thing up and breaks from the repetition of the same names against one another month after month.
Every six to nine months, if WWE wants to insert someone new into a main event title shot just to test the waters and break the monotony of the same match-ups, I'm all for it. It won't work every time, but eventually it could result in a breakout star who otherwise would have been "defined down" as a mid-card act "unworthy" of sharing the ring with the established top star. Earlier this decade, a year or two of Christian and Edge being destroyed by Undertaker and Kane, I believe, set them back a couple years in being taken seriously as a main event act in the eyes of the fans. Sheamus hasn't been subjected to that treatment, so if he ends up being worth of this fast-track, he can fulfill his potential soon rather than unnecessarily late.
There will be people who think someone from another brand should have been moved to Raw, such as Christian, Dolph Zigger, Vladimir Kozlov, Zach Ryder, Vance Archer, Ezekiel Jackosn, or Drew McIntrye. I'd put Sheamus ahead of everyone on that list, though, with the possible exception of Dolph Ziggler or Christian. But Ziggler and Sheamus are pretty close in terms of seeming ready, and if this is a one-month or two-month type of feud, it seems like a waste to move Christian onto one of the main brands for a quick one-off feud when hopefully they have something more significant in mind for him when he makes his move off of ECW.
So, overall, I applaud the move, even if doesn't work in the end and fans ultimately reject Sheamus as being a title threat. I think they have done everything right in pushing Sheamus as a new killer heel threat, and I think there's a good chance Cena fans will for the most part be eager to pay to see him knocked off his pedestal. It's a gamble WWE should have made more often over the years and I hope the backlash among those second-guessing the move doesn't cause them to go back to "what's safe" and recycle the same feuds for years at a time. Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.
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