WWE Superstar Study: Analyzing the State of Sheamus' Character

WARNING: The following article contains SPOILERS from tomorrow’s SmackDown, so STOP reading if you like to be surprised.

It wasn’t even three years ago that Sheamus debuted in the WWE on its ECW brand, but he’s already developed into one of the company’s biggest stars.

The Great White had a lightning quick rise to the top of the WWE, and after some runs in the mid-card, he’s back on top as the world heavyweight champion.

Today, we’re going to look at how Sheamus got there and what his future might hold, with this week’s WWE Superstar Study.

Where He’s Been

Toward the end of last summer, Sheamus began a gradual face turn, ultimately becoming a good guy around SummerSlam as he stepped up to try to end Mark Henry’s dominant run over SmackDown (although he lost to Henry at that pay-per-view).

After the loss, Sheamus went on a lengthy winning streak, one that was ended after interference from Christian. This sparked an intense rivalry between the two, and Sheamus would go on to defeat Christian in three big matches at Hell in a Cell, Vengeance and on an episode of SmackDown, which began another long winning streak.

Although Sheamus went months without a feud, his winning streak extended all the way to the Royal Rumble match, when he entered at No. 22 but outlasted 29 other competitors to win the match and earn a world title shot at WrestleMania XXVIII.

In February 2012, at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Sheamus made it clear that he would be going after the world heavyweight championship when he attacked Bryan after Bryan had successfully retained his title in SmackDown’s Elimination Chamber Match.

Sheamus would go on to defeat Bryan in the opening match of WrestleMania XXVIII in just 18 seconds to win his first world heavyweight championship and third overall world title of his career.

Bryan enacted his rematch clause at Extreme Rules, and he and Sheamus faced off in a fantastic two-out-of-three falls match at the pay-per-view, which was probably the best match of Sheamus’ WWE career so far.

Where He Is Now

Sheamus’ feud with Bryan concluded at Extreme Rules, and The Great White moved on to a feud with Alberto Del Rio, who had earned a shot at Sheamus’ title prior to Extreme Rules.

Sheamus would team up with Randy Orton on the May 7 edition of Raw to take on Chris Jericho and Del Rio in tag-team action. After Sheamus inadvertently hit Orton with a Brogue Kick and lost the match following a Codebreaker by Jericho, Orton nailed Sheamus with a post-match RKO.

As a result, Jericho and Orton were added to the world heavyweight championship match at Over the Limit, making it a fatal four-way.

This also sparked a heated face/face rivalry between Orton and Sheamus, which came to a head on last week’s episode of SmackDown when Sheamus defeated Orton via roll-up in a 27-minute TV classic.

At Sunday’s Over the Limit PPV, Sheamus was able to outlast Orton, ADR and Y2J, pinning Jericho to retain the world heavyweight championship in a very good fatal four-way match.

The next night on Raw, Sheamus teamed up with John Cena in the main event to beat Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Tensai via DQ in a two-on-three handicap lumberjack match. The match was a result of Sheamus helping Cena as he received a beatdown from a number of heels earlier in the show.

Where I Think He’s Headed

Here’s the SPOILER part: On tomorrow’s SmackDown, Del Rio will once again become the No. 1 contender for Sheamus’ world heavyweight championship and the two will face off at No Way Out.

However, given that Jericho and Orton were added to the Over the Limit match and that ADR became an afterthought in that feud, I don’t think things are going to change very much. I fully expect Sheamus to retain at No Way Out and move on to a feud with someone else.

The obvious question is: Who will step up to face Sheamus next?

Truth be told, there aren’t a whole lot of options at this point, but I think a currently inactive superstar is going to become Sheamus’ next challenger. I’m talking, of course, about Wade Barrett.

Barrett is rumored to return in either June or July. This would set him up to come back, immediately target Sheamus and go after the world heavyweight championship.

It’s expected that Barrett will be in line for a big push upon his return, so instantly placing him into a feud for the world heavyweight championship makes sense, especially when there is a definite history there between he and Sheamus.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Barrett returns at No Way Out or even on an episode of Raw or SmackDown following the PPV, attacks Sheamus and earns himself a world heavyweight championship match at Money in the Bank.

However, I do think the WWE might hold off on this feud a bit, extend Sheamus vs. ADR another month to Money in the Bank and then hold Sheamus vs. Barrett at SummerSlam.

This has a potential to be a very good match, and it would be nice to see two guys who haven’t been main-eventers getting a big world title match at SummerSlam.

Where I Think He Should be Headed

I think a Sheamus vs. Barrett feud could definitely happen, and in fact, I think that’s one of two directions that the WWE should go in.

As I said earlier, Sheamus doesn’t have a whole lot of fresh feuds waiting for him, but he does have two potentially great ones lined up for him on SmackDown against Cody Rhodes or against Barrett.

I’m a big fan of both Barrett and Rhodes, so here’s what I’d do with either one of those guys following No Way Out:

ADR beats Sheamus at No Way Out via DQ after Del Rio does something to really piss Sheamus off, causing Sheamus to go crazy, get himself disqualified and set up a rematch at Money in the Bank.

At MITB, one of two things happen: Either Barrett returns as a surprise participant in SmackDown’s MITB match and wins it, or if Barrett isn’t ready to return at that point, Rhodes wins the MITB match instead.

Later on in the same show, Sheamus beats Del Rio clean, effectively ending that feud once and for all. However, he doesn’t get to celebrate too long because as soon as the match is over, ADR attacks him and the music of Barrett or Rhodes hits.

Whoever’s holding the MITB briefcase sprints down to the ring, cashes in, nails Sheamus with his finisher and becomes the new world heavyweight champion.

This would set up a big match between Sheamus and Barrett or Sheamus and Rhodes at SummerSlam, and it would make for a much better story with the babyface challenger chasing the heel champion.

Plus, it would give either Barrett or Rhodes their first world title win, which both of them deserve at this point.

Ultimately, this would lead to an extended feud with either one of those guys for Sheamus, although he would fail to recapture the world heavyweight championship.

Heading into the fall, I could see a situation where the WWE built toward a match between Sheamus and Brock Lesnar, two of the WWE’s biggest powerhouses.

Final Thoughts

Sheamus has developed into one of the WWE’s most reliable performers and is now undoubtedly a top star in the company.

He’s really stepped his game up wrestling-wise over the last several months, and he’s gotten so over that the WWE had almost no choice but to put the world heavyweight championship on him.

Although he’s worked extremely hard to get where he is, I think that—as long as he’s a babyface—he’s better off chasing the title than holding it.

Perhaps a heel turn is in Sheamus’ future, but the WWE really needs him as a babyface right now, which is a role he performs really well in and should stay in for as long as he’s needed there.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.