5 Theories about why Sheamus turned heel on Drew McIntyre on this week's RAW

For weeks, Drew McIntyre and Sheamus were both portrayed as the best of friends and allies, even though they enjoyed the occasional backstage brawl and scuffle.

Turns out, that it was only an act because Sheamus hit Drew McIntyre with a Brogue Kick. Let's be honest. As much fun as the moment was, it was one that we saw coming from many miles away.

So, why did WWE choose to have Sheamus go heel when he was showcased as Drew McIntyre's only ally and good friend? Here are 5 reasons why this storyline happened, and we invite you to chime in with your own reasoning in the comments below.

Did Sheamus turning heel and attacking Drew McIntyre come as a surprise to you or did you predict it?

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#5 To set up a WWE Championship match with Sheamus before Drew McIntyre gets to his eventual WrestleMania opponent

WWE has two pay-per-views to book before WrestleMania comes around and it is more than likely that Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre will happen at one of them. Sheamus is a gifted performer and he's incapable of having a bad match, as we've seen over the years. That said, WWE has invested far too much time, energy, and effort in building Drew McIntyre into a top-tier star for him to drop the WWE Championship to Sheamus.

Even if Sheamus was to come up short against Drew McIntyre in an upcoming pay-per-view, it would be a major step up for the man, because of the way the current Champ has been protected for the last year or so.

Sure, Sheamus has been WWE Champion on several occasions already but the truth of the matter is that it was a different time. For him to become the face of the company right now just won't work.

#4 Sheamus is Drew McIntyre's next opponent because the WWE Champion has run through every other heel at his level in the RAW roster

Drew McIntyre and Sheamus are taking each other on because the WWE Champion has been booked dominantly against almost every other heel in the WWE RAW brand already. Be it Bobby Lashley, or Randy Orton, or AJ Styles, or even Goldberg (who is a babyface who earns the ire of fans), Drew McIntyre has run through them all.

Well, The Fiend has turned babyface to clash with Randy Orton, meaning that Sheamus is pretty much the only guy left who hasn't taken the WWE Champion on.

While we mean no offense at all, Sheamus seems like a far more formidable foe for the WWE Championship picture than someone like Elias or Mustafa Ali, because of the way that those men have been presented on television thus far.

Plus, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre can have a competitive match, a very big departure from the contest that the Champ had with Goldberg recently.

#3 Something about Sheamus just screams 'natural heel', does it not?

Sheamus, much like The Miz or even Ric Flair, just comes across as a heel even when he is portrayed as a babyface on television because that's what comes naturally to him. Sheamus has played a heel to such perfection over so many years, that it becomes difficult for the audience to see him as anything else.

And let's be fair. Sheamus hasn't done anything as a babyface during his most recent RAW run to make fans want to root for him, to be in his corner. His alliance with Drew McIntyre was one based on their history, and as has been mentioned before, the two even got into a backstage brawl, even though they would patch up soon after.

In his current incarnation, Sheamus can just embrace the natural heel in him and let it shine through, as he goes up against his best friend. Drew McIntyre and Sheamus are obviously good friends even in real life, so they both know the stakes involved in this feud.

#2 Sheamus could be a substitute for the Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal storyline, which played out in an underwhelming manner

While Sheamus is feuding with the WWE Champion, in case you missed it, Drew McIntyre vs. Jinder Mahal, which was a highly-anticipated feud for fans, owing to the fact that both men were allied in 3MB played out in a very underwhelming manner at WWE Superstar Spectacle, as the two men clashed in a six-man tag team contest and not one-on-one.

Sheamus and Drew McIntyre have a chance to recreate the same kind of storyline, based on their shared history on the RAW brand. Of course, Jinder Mahal vs. Drew McIntyre may have been a much bigger contest, owing to how both men returned to WWE and climbed to the top of the food chain. The fact that it was an important match for the Indian audience allowed it to play out in a rather disappointing fashion.

Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre may just be a substitute for the storyline that never really came to pass, but there's no reason why these two men can't create compelling television together.

#1 Drew McIntyre has been very vocal about wanting to work with and elevate Sheamus to the next level

Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus is a match that is happening very soon indeed, for the WWE Championship, because the Champ has been very vocal about wanting it to happen, as he told us in an SK Exclusive not long ago.

We've known each other since I was 18-19, he was about 45-46 at that time (laughs). And moving through everything together like all the ups and the downs of his life and my life. Like the story would be incredible and I think where I'm at right now would help pull him to where he belongs on the card.

Drew McIntyre wanted AJ Styles and Randy Orton and he got them. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus is something that the Champion must have pushed for, backstage, in an attempt to elevate his friend Sheamus to the next level, and for being a good soldier and lieutenant of Vince McMahon, he must have been rewarded with this upcoming encounter.