Sheamus vs. Wade Barrett Is a Feud That Should Not Happen

While many WWE superstars don’t have any feud whatsoever during WrestleMania season, former World Heavyweight champion Sheamus appears to two have at the moment.

Judging by what we saw on last week’s Raw, the creative team is in “we can’t decide what to do with anyone” mode, and therefore, has kind of sort of kept two feuds alive for Sheamus.

On one hand, Sheamus’ rivalry with The Shield still appears to be alive and kicking. On the other hand, a rivalry with Wade Barrett also appears to be taking shape for The Great White.

Odds are that will result in Sheamus facing either The Shield in some type of 3-on-3 match or Barrett for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at the WWE’s biggest PPV of the year. 

But the latter absolutely should not happen. No way, no how.

Forget the fact that the premise of a potential Barrett/Sheamus feud is absolutely ridiculous. In one of the worst Raw segments in recent memory, Sheamus and Barrett seemed to ignite a rivalry because Sheamus was making fun of Barrett’s not-so-prominent role in the latest WWE film, Dead Man Down.

In the words of The Miz, really? Really? Really? 

Of all the idiotic ways to ignite a feud, this is perhaps one of the dumbest, especially when you consider the two guys involved. Barrett and Sheamus are known for being two of the WWE’s best brawlers and fighters. 

Having them feud over a movie that no one cares about is an absolute joke, especially when Sheamus is making jokes himself rather than actually jaw-jacking with Barret over something worthwhile—like perhaps, you know, the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

That title is another big issue when it comes to a potential Barrett/Sheamus rivalry, though. 

After the way he’s been pushed over the last year-plus, Sheamus is widely considered to be one of the WWE’s top three babyfaces. He’s solidified himself as one of the WWE’s biggest names after a seven-month World title reign and a lengthy run of picking up big victory after big victory.

There’s no way that Sheamus could logically or reasonably go from being the centerpiece of the World title picture to feuding for a midcard title so suddenly. It just doesn’t seem to make sense for him to take such a substantial—and very noticeable—drop down the card in such quick fashion. 

This isn’t the same Sheamus who went from WWE champion to United States champion in 2010. This is a Sheamus who has positioned himself as an elite talent in the WWE, and because the WWE Intercontinental Championship is at a much lower level now than it used to be, it’s really not believable to see a guy like him feuding for that title.

Sheamus certainly doesn’t have to be feuding for World titles all the time, but does an intercontinental championship victory really accomplish anything for him?

After all, virtually none of the recent IC champs have benefited from holding the title in any real way whatsoever. Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Barrett and even Cody Rhodes are no better off now than they were before they won the title, so someone like Sheamus won’t be, either. 

Taking down Barrett would do next to nothing for Sheamus, especially when you consider that we’ve already seen this match a boatload of times in the past.

Back in 2011 and even into 2012, a lot of wrestling fans talked about how good a potential Barrett/Sheamus feud could be. But that was when it had a fresh feeling to it and when Barrett was widely considered to be a future World champion.

Barrett, however, has been booked so atrociously as of late that his long-term future in the WWE has come into question, and although he’s better overall now than he’s ever been, the creative team simply doesn’t seem to be as high on him as it once was.

When you couple that with the fact that Barrett vs. Sheamus has already happened more than a handful of times, you lose almost all of the intrigue that used to be there.

It really wasn’t all that long ago that this had the potential to be a must-see rivalry that could have perhaps even involved the World Heavyweight Championship. But that time has come and gone, and now, it now seems like nothing more than just another rivalry.

If it does happen, let’s hope it’s not at WrestleMania. After all, neither Barrett nor Sheamus will benefit from it.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter!