WWE: 7 Reasons Sheamus Will Be Considered a Legend One Day

Sheamus is quietly, yet quickly, becoming one of the most controversial figures in the WWE.

Following in the footsteps of other top babyfaces like Randy Orton and John Cena, wrestling fans around the world seem to have one of two stances on the World Heavyweight Champion.

Quite simply, they either like him, or, well, they don't.

Regardless of where you stand, however, you cannot deny that Sheamus has become one of the biggest names in the business.

He is indeed a bona fide superstar in pro wrestling, and—dare I say it?—he's well on his way to a Hall of Fame-caliber career.

Here are seven reasons why Sheamus will be considered a legend one day.

7. His Ability to Work as a Heel or Babyface

Some guys can only work as a heel. Others can only perform as a babyface.

But Sheamus? He can do both.

Just take a look at the WWE roster, and you'll see that a number of superstars have spent the majority (or the entirety) of their careers in one role: The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, etc.

Sheamus, on the other hand, quickly rose to the top of the WWE as a heel, spent two years on the dark side and then transitioned into his role as a top face that he's been in for roughly the last year.

Some fans will always prefer Sheamus as a heel, while others would rather see him stay in his current role as a face.

But either way, the bottom line is that Sheamus has successfully managed to make it to the top of the WWE in both roles, which is something that some bona fide legends, like Ricky Steamboat for example, can't even say they've done.

A superstar's ability to effectively work on both sides of the fence is something that is overlooked and undervalued, and Sheamus excels at both. 

6. His In-Ring Abilities as a Big Man

The best big man in the business might very well be Sheamus.

Of course, defining "the best big man" gets a little tricky because no one can seem to agree on what qualities make someone a "big man."

But if we're just being honest here, there aren't very many—if any—6'6", 275-pound performers who are is good in the ring as the Great White.

He's really been in a zone over the last year or so, putting on great bouts with guys like Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton, among others.

In a WWE that doesn't feature The Undertaker full-time and has decided to bury Jack Swagger, Sheamus really stands out as someone who towers over his opponents, but can still keep up with them in the ring.

He's been one of the best in-ring performers in the WWE for roughly a year now.

Yes, Sheamus has benefited from being in the ring with some of the best wrestlers in the business, but you're kidding yourself if you think that he didn't still have to do his part in those matches.

Sheamus had been on absolute roll lately, showing that big men can indeed put on great matches on a consistent basis.

5. He's Still Getting Better

As mentioned in the last slide, Sheamus has become arguably the best big man in the business.

The scary part, however, is that he's still improving.

Every time Sheamus steps into the ring, I can't help but be more and more impressed by what he's able to do.

He's extremely athletic for such a big guy, but perhaps more importantly, his psychology is always fantastic, especially when he's working with the right opponent.

The Sheamus haters will criticize him because he hardly ever loses and because he has developed the typical babyface move set that we see from the WWE's other top good guys.

I see where those people are coming from, but I also hope that they realize that every star has a particular move set that he relies upon and that Sheamus shouldn't be criticized for it.

Instead, sit back, watch Sheamus' matches and enjoy the fact that he's really good in the ring, but is still getting better.

He's only been on the main roster for three years now. He's going to continue to get better until he hangs up his boots for good.

4. His Popularity

When you think of the WWE's most popular stars, two immediately come to mind: John Cena and CM Punk.

After those two, the spot for the WWE's third most popular star is up for grabs, but I'd argue that the front-runner for it is none other than Sheamus.

The Great White has absolutely skyrocketed up the WWE in terms of popularity over the last year or so, and along with that popularity has come a lot of great things.

Like? Royal Rumble wins, World title reigns, massive pushes and so on and so forth.

If a WWE superstar is ridiculously popular or, in wrestling terms, "over," then chances are that he will be pushed to the moon as long as he stays over.

Sheamus is over big-time right now, and there have been no signs of him getting less popular anytime soon.

Being over = a lengthy push = building up your resume = one step closer to being a legend.

3. He's Entrenched as a Top Star Now and for the Foreseeable Future

Only a handful of WWE stars need not worry about falling too far down the card.

There's John Cena, CM Punk, Randy Orton (even despite the suspension), Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and maybe another star or two.

Why don't they have to worry? Because they're firmly entrenched as top stars going forward.

Whether it's because they've been around so long and are respected, popular veterans (Cena and Orton) or because they're on fire right now as performers (Punk and Bryan), the fact remains that—at least for the time being—there is nothing that should make us think that these stars are going to stray away from the top of the WWE anytime soon.

Sheamus is one of those guys.

He has made drastic improvements as a performer and is so over as a babyface right now that it seems guaranteed that he will remain a top star well into the future.

This could, of course, change down the road, but right now, it doesn't seem very likely.

Sheamus has been a top guy for most of his WWE career, he's currently at the peak of his career, and he's proved to the WWE brass that he can be one of the faces of the company moving forward.

That should assure us that Sheamus will have even more success down the road.

2. His Resume

Here is a list of what Sheamus has accomplished so far in the WWE:

• Two-time WWE Champion
• One-time World Heavyweight Champion
• Royal Rumble winner (2012)
• King of the Ring winner (2010)
• One-time United States Champion

How can you not be impressed by that?

In a WWE career that's only lasted roughly three years, Sheamus has won more titles than a number of wrestlers who already in the WWE Hall of Fame, and he joined an elite class when he managed to win both the King of the Ring tournament and the Royal Rumble.

Like Sheamus or not, there's no possible way that you can deny that he has built up a fantastic resume in a ridiculously short span.

If Sheamus retired today, he'd end up having a career that, at least on paper, is better than those of plenty of guys who can call themselves Hall of Famers.

That's not all that the Hall of Fame is about, obviously, but when you look at the resumes of everyone currently in the WWE, not many stars have a better one than Sheamus.

1. He's Accomplished so Much in Such a Short Span

As I touched on in the last slide, Sheamus has accomplished quite a lot in his WWE career.

But what's even more impressive is that he did all those things in such a short span.

In just three years, Sheamus went from unknown amongst mainstream wrestling fans to a King of the Ring winner, Royal Rumble winner and three-time World champion.

There aren't very many WWE stars—past or present—who can say that they did all those things throughout their career. Sheamus, however, has done them in just more than three years.

What's that mean?

Well, it's hard to tell, really. But should Sheamus keep up that pace (or anything close to it) and stick around for another five to 10 years, he may rack up one of the most impressive resumes in WWE history.

He could very well end his career with six, seven, eight or more World title reigns and a long line of great matches.

And if that happens, forget becoming a legend. Sheamus will become a Hall of Famer.

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