As those listeners of the Classy Ring Attire podcast (which should be all of you) know, over the past couple of months, I have somehow, become a representative of all those who hate Sheamus. As not caring about the guy gave way into being bored of him, and being bored of him eventually became getting outright angry every time he appeared on the show, it eventually came to the point that I had nothing good to say about Sheamus to offset the mountains of bad I was pointing out every single week. It eventually got to the point where a little while back I ended up writing an article called “Why I Hate Sheamus” in an effort to detail exactly what it was about the guy that got under my skin so much.
And then we got the news that Sheamus would be out for the next four to six months. It turns out that due to injuries, sustained during the Money in the Bank match, Sheamus will be required to undergo surgery to repair his shoulder. (Incidentally, according to Sheamus, this will be the first surgery he’s ever had.) Now, as someone who has been rather vocal about his dislike for Sheamus over the past several months, this would be a very easy time for me to express feelings along the line of “Good. Glad to get that guy off of my TV. No to sit back and bask in four to six months of uninterrupted Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, insert other indy darling here, matches main eventing all of my PPVs.” But that’s not the case here. See as much as I may not care for someone, or rather in this case, someone’s gimmick, I wouldn’t ever really hope for injury to get him off the TV, or even really getting future endeavored. It takes a special amount of hatred to wish a man serious injury or unemployment, and though I stand by every complaint I lobbied against Sheamus we’ve never reached that point.
I’ve tried to make it clear that my complaints haven’t really been about Sheamus the person, but rather Sheamus the character, specifically how he is portrayed on the show and his current role in the company and on the roster. And if there is any sort of silver lining in this gray cloud situation, it’s that a four to six month break, though it came about through unfortunate circumstances, could end up being a good thing for Sheamus in the long run.
When I wrote the “Why I Hate Sheamus” article, my biggest complaint was that Sheamus was the embodiment of all the complaints that the Internet likes to toss at Cena only worse. Repetitive move set, Corny, unfunny jokes on the mic, refusing to put over other wrestlers and storylines by never taking his opponents or their abilities seriously, and Superman like portrayal of overcoming the odds in the ring. Whether you like Cena or not, you have to admit that his character is one that he has perfected and maintained for quite a while now, and as long as Cena is there, if Sheamus is doing more or less the same thing, he will always be a second fiddle character to Cena.
So in four to six months when Sheamus does return, the best possible option for the guy would be some serious character changes. Now, I’m not calling for a heel turn here. First of all calling for a heel/face turn whenever we’re unhappy with a current character is a bit of a cheap way out, and second of all, when Sheamus does return, he will get that unquestionable return pop, something that the WWE would want to capitalize on if they want Sheamus to be a top guy (which it seems apparent they do).
The best time in the guy’s career, character wise at least, was at the very beginning of his face turn when he was just starting to feud with Mark Henry. The entire motivation for that feud was that Sheamus was there to fight and he would fight anybody he could get his hands on. It was simple but for Sheamus it worked. While I’ve praised the likes of Punk in his ability to tell a story and captivate a crowd with subtle acting in his promos, similar compliments have never really been given to Sheamus. But that’s ok, because simple can be good for Sheamus, less focus on silly jokes and more on in ring action, where Sheamus has proven to have talent several times in the past.
So bring the guy back angry, and I mean very angry. He has the motivation, because after all, he just lost four to six months of his career. So gone are the silly jokes, gone are the commercials for K-Mart and the 1-800-FELLA bits. He can keep the exaggerated accent but don’t go out of the way to get him to say promos that make the accent as silly as possible. Instead give Sheamus singular focus. Point out that he was so close to the top of the roster when his career was sidelined, and he is now refusing to let this time off knock him back down. Have Sheamus willing to fight anybody who gets in his way, regardless of face and heel status. He can still be a face, I don’t mind that, but a face who isn’t there to be the best of friends with all the other faces, not if they’re in his way of being the top guy in the company. You do this WWE, you do this and you do it right, and I who have had nothing but bad things to say about Sheamus for months now wouldn’t mind seeing Sheamus with the title in six months.
