Could Sheamus Become the No. 2 Man in WWE?

Over the last year or so, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan have taken the wrestling world by storm, causing some other WWE superstars to be overlooked. 

One of those superstars is Sheamus. 

Even though Sheamus is the World Heavyweight Champion and has been since WrestleMania 28, he’s sort of been lost in all of the hoopla surrounding Punk, Bryan and some of the WWE’s other top stars. 

Still, that hasn’t prevented “The Great White” from becoming one of the top four stars in the company. 

In fact, if I had to put together some WWE rankings today, it’d probably go something like this: John Cena at No. 1, CM Punk at No. 2, Sheamus at No. 3 and Randy Orton at No. 4. 

Just a few months ago, Orton would have been in that third spot, but due to his suspension and shaky future in the WWE, I’d say that Sheamus has leapfrogged him and become the third-biggest full-time star in the company. 

Sheamus had a fast track to success in the WWE, winning first his WWE Championship not even six months after he made his main-roster debut. But it wasn’t until he turned face last summer that he skyrocketed up the WWE ladder. 

While he had quickly developed into one of the company’s top heels during his first two years in the company (mid-2009 to mid-2011), he became stale in that role and transitioned to a bona fide baby face during a feud with Mark Henry last year. 

Since then, Sheamus’ stock has soared, as he’s gone from a pretty good heel to easily one of the most over superstars on the roster. 

While there are many fans who don’t particularly care for Sheamus as a baby face, I think he’s done really well in that role. Not only has he gotten over big time, but he’s made some huge strides as an in-ring performer, becoming one of the best big men in the business. 

There are many critics, however, who say that Sheamus has reached his peak—that he’s a baby-face World champion, and thus, that there’s nowhere to go but down. 

That, of course, means that a big chunk of fans don’t ever see Sheamus being able to unseat Punk as the No. 2 star in the company. 

While Punk made the chances of that much higher with his heel turn on Monday that could cause his popularity to plummet, I still don’t see it happening. 

And it’s nothing against Sheamus, either. The odds just aren’t in his favor. 

While I’m not the world’s biggest Sheamus fan, I love the intensity he shows in the ring and the dramatic improvements he’s made there, especially over the last year or so. 

He’s become arguably the WWE’s best brawler, and he’s put on a number of memorable matches, including his Two-out-of-Three Falls match with Bryan at Extreme Rules, his World title match against Dolph Ziggler at No Way Out and some of those TV matches he’s had with guys like Randy Orton and Chris Jericho. 

But if the WWE was going to push everyone strictly on in-ring work, Tyson Kidd would probably be a World champion right now. 

If I’m just being honest, though, it’s not Sheamus the wrestler that has me worried. It’s Sheamus the character and talker. 

I don’t think he’s a bad mic worker at all, and his character isn’t terrible. 

But there’s no real depth to Sheamus as a character, and I don’t see the presence there that has helped make Cena, Punk and even Orton so popular. 

Cena has been established as this superhero-like character, with the odds always stacked against him, while Punk has been an antihero/tweener of sorts, even though he shied away from that the longer his face run went on. 

When you look at those two guys, though, you see something there: You see a character that’s unlike any other star in the company, and perhaps more importantly, you see some excellent mic work. 

Cena and Punk are undoubtedly two of the top talkers in the company, and like them or not, they know how to cut a promo that gets the attention of the fans. 

I just don’t see that with Sheamus. 

He’s basically just a big Irish brawler who “loves to fight” (I’d say he stole that from Finlay). That’s it. 

He doesn’t cut those epic promos that get us invested into his feuds, and he doesn’t have any real conflicts that make us want to see him triumph over evil. 

While a lot of fans like to criticize Cena for being, well, “too Cena,” I think Sheamus has become more Cena-like than Cena himself. 

Sheamus is the unbeatable superhero who never loses and cuts the same generic promo week after week, and, as a result, I have to wonder if Sheamus’ run at the top is going to be a limited one. 

Cena and Punk can stay there because of their abilities on the mic and their already-established fanbases, and even Orton can remain a top star because he’s got this natural likable aura that always generates a reaction. 

I simply am not sure that Sheamus can rival any of those three when it comes to staying over and performing well as a character, though. 

He may be a top baby face for years to come, and he may rack up memorable wins and a ton of accolades. 

But he’ll always be looking up at Punk (face or heel) and Cena. Maybe Orton, too.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.