10 Problems With Sheamus As WWE World Heavyweight Champion
9. His First Televised Win Since October 5th
A big criticism of how Sheamus has been booked since his MITB win in June is how often he has lost matches and been presented like a midcard act. He's had a serious lack of proper exposure. WWE has a history of booking its MITB winners to lose the majority of their matches with the mindset that they can afford to lose because when they finally win the briefcase, it's instantly (re)legitimise him. For me, I havent seen that format be a success a single time.
riple H was one of the best and most successful heels ever in 1999 and 2000, and part of the reason for that is because he could backup his heelish ways by winning matches and it got fans invested and hopeful of seeing someone beat him.
Before Sheamus cashed-in at Survivor Series, he hadnt won a singles match on WWE television since the October 5th RAW. While hes been tagging with King Barrett, this statistic is another example of how WWE is resistant to strapping the rocket to MITB briefcase holders before they cash-in.
WWE seems intent on giving fans the shocking moment of the cash-in rather than building a guy like Sheamus up and making him a main event player BEFORE he captures the title. This is, obviously, a huge problem. If WWE would only try and build a guy up before the cash-in, it would make him a much bigger success in the long-term.