Royal Rumble 2012: Why Putting Sheamus over Chris Jericho Was Right Decision

When Sheamus eliminated Chris Jericho to win the 2012 Royal Rumble on Sunday, you would have thought that it was the end of the world as we know it based on all the whining that was going on. When you really think about it, though, the creative team clearly made the right choice.

As a big fan of Jericho, I'll admit that I was rooting for Y2J to pull through in the latter stages. When Sheamus Brogue-kicked Jericho off the apron I was initially disappointed, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it eventually made.

There is no question that Sheamus belongs in the main-event scene. Not only does he have great size and a unique look, but he's excellent in the ring, has very solid mic skills and he is extremely over with the crowd. Unfortunately for him, he had been lost in the shuffle over the previous few months.

With SmackDown's main event being dominated by the likes of Daniel Bryan, Big Show and Mark Henry, and Wade Barrett feuding with Randy Orton, there wasn't much for Sheamus to do. Some may find it stupid that Sheamus is going from perpetually facing Jinder Mahal to vying for the world title, but he deserves it.

There was no obvious route to take Sheamus from where he was prior to the Rumble to where he is now without him actually winning the Rumble match. Instead of creating some roundabout storyline to allow Sheamus to challenge Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship, he was simply given license to do so by earning the title shot.

Jericho is a veteran who has accomplished almost all there is to accomplish in wrestling. I understand that he has never won a Rumble, but it isn't something he needs like Sheamus obviously did. Most fans have been clamoring for Jericho to win the Rumble so he could feud with CM Punk over the WWE Championship.

After the developments on last night's RAW where Jericho got Punk disqualified against Bryan and then proceeded to deliver a Codebreaker to Punk, though, it appears as though that feud will happen anyway. Jericho has such star power that all he had to do was interfere in one of Punk's matches to make the rivalry happen.

It would have been much more difficult to have a face like Sheamus pull a similar tactic. Sheamus is a fan favorite, so he earned his title shot the honorable way. Jericho, on the other hand, is a snake who can find other means to get exactly what he wants.

With Sheamus winning the Rumble, it looks like we are going to get two more intriguing matches for WrestleMania with Sheamus challenging Bryan and Jericho taking on Punk. With that in mind, everyone is pretty much getting what they were clamoring for in the first place.

The hallmark of most wrestling fans is to immediately overreact when something doesn't go the way they had hoped. I'll admit that I almost fell into that very trap after Sheamus won the Rumble, but it was clear that he needed something big to elevate him, and the Rumble win was precisely that.

Too often the WWE is criticized for making poor creative decisions, so it's only fair to give the company full marks when something is done right, and the Rumble result was right on the money.