Three years ago, WWE brass was so high on Sheamus that he was considered a potential successor to John Cena as the company's top babyface. He won the Royal Rumble, defeated Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII, and proceeded to dominate his competition for the rest of the year, losing the title to The Big Show after a lengthy reign. Unfortunately, injuries and a lack of direction stymied Sheamus's momentum in 2013 and 2014. When he returned from surgery the night after WrestleMania XXXI, he had a new look and a new attitude. Many felt that a heel turn for the Irish Warrior was long overdue, and that it was the first step in a career resurgence. So far, that hasn't proven to be the case. Feuds with Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton have failed to capture fans' imaginations and, despite the fact that Sheamus won the Money in the Bank ladder match, it seems unthinkable that he'll cash in his title shot contract successfully. Since the Orton feud - a poorly booked back-and-forth program that did nothing for either man - Sheamus has mostly stuck to teasing the cashing-in of his briefcase, though he has yet to deliver. While Sheamus is seen as a star to the company (at least, to the extent that he's a former champion who's always booked fairly strongly) the crowd doesn't take him seriously - the extent of their reaction is chanting "You look stupid" at the mohawked grappler. This keeps him from being a true main eventer, and so the company seems to be at a loss as to how to handle him.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
