Speculating Sheamus's road ahead

Sheamus is one of the most talented and all round performers in the current WWE roster. The Irish superstar works at a great rate and provides the fans with some brilliant performances weekly. He is 6’6″ and 280 pounds, but he’s much different from most big men that have come across the WWE. Superstars like The Great Khali, Mike Knox, Festus, Vladimir Kozlov, Ezekiel, Snitsky, and some of the past big men too haven’t been impressive in the ring. Sheamus doesn’t come from the same mold as these guys. Instead, I think he’s more like Undertaker, Batista, Big Show and Bam Bam Bigelow, a big man with a future.

Sheamus has pretty good in-ring skills.There’s no denying that “The Celtic Warrior” has a very unique look and a powerful arsenal of moves. He can actually talk on the mic and be good at it, most big men don’t even know what a microphone is. Sheamus also has a pretty cool gimmick. However it has started going stale as of late.

As it stands, The Celtic Warrior character just doesn’t work as much as it should. Yes, he’s over, but not as much as he should be after 210 days as World Heavyweight Champion and the protection he’s been granted by officials. Not that it’s Sheamus’ fault, as the pale brute has steadily improved his ring game since debuting in the company over five years ago. The problem is creative, and particularly the character that Sheamus is playing: a poor man’s John Cena.

He constantly cracks lame jokes in interviews and is always seen sporting a suspiciously sunny disposition, wearing a hardy smile and walking with a spring in his step. But it all seems forced and glaringly inauthentic, and most principally, out of sync with the blistering intensity of the Great White’s in ring style.

And as mentioned, and much like Cena, he rarely loses. Take his recent program with Christian—the two have wrestled several (criminally underrated) matches and he’s won each and every one of them. He’s Super Sheamus. The problem is, the superhero gimmick doesn’t work at anything other than a main event level—especially when you have someone like Cena around to compare to.

The quick fix is, in theory, a heel turn. It’s much easier to make fans hate a talent than like them, but truthfully if Sheamus were to return to his 2009 ways, he’d be just as ineffective a character. If he is to turn heel, he needs to be a monster. Think Mark Henry in 2011. He can’t run from a fight; he IS the fight. Because, again, a cowardly Sheamus is just as bad as a happy-go-lucky one.

But a heel turn isn’t necessary, it’s just easier. Bottom line: Sheamus needs an intense character to match his intense work style. Because if his current character gets a big push, expect the savvier-than-ever fans to reject him like they have Batista.

But it would be too hard to dislike the intense Sheamus. Week in and week out he already lays it all on the line. He is a work horse plain and simple. His passion for this business is abundant and you can just tell he is the sort of bloke that doesn’t take his job for granted. He rarely fails to deliver in the ring.

He is a brute! His character could use some subtle changes to keep things fresh, but one thing should always remain with his character “He loves to fight!”. Most of his fans would love to see him have another run with a title belt and a substantial feud.

Having him fight against the likes of Brock Lesnar or Cesaro would make up for some very interesting television. Not to mention the shear quality of matches that they will put on in the ring. Sheamus needs direction and once the Great White gets that, he would certainly start stealing the show on major occasions.