Sheamus and Big Show's World Heavyweight Championship Feud: Why It's Been Great

While CM Punk's WWE Championship reign continues to get the spotlight, the other Heavyweight Championship of the World has been around the waist of a man for quite a while as well.  Sheamus has held the World Heavyweight Title for 198 days, trailing only Batista and the man who first held the belt when it was formally introduced to WWE, Triple H. 

Punk's future in WWE as champion is up for debate, and there is merit in both sides of the argument over whether or not he will still have gold around his waist after Hell in A Cell.  Sheamus, on the other hand, is in serious jeopardy of losing the title for a number of factors that have combined to make for one of the better feuds on SmackDown and Raw since Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules.

Let's go back to SmackDown on September 28, four days after The Big Show returned from an absence after SummerSlam.  After laying out both Brodus Clay and Tensai, a number one contender's match was announced between The Big Show and Randy Orton.  Big Show's victory was decisive, using two chokeslams to put Orton away with no outside interference or other shenanigans involved.

On the next episode of Raw, The Big Show and Sheamus participated in a World Heavyweight Championship debate, and the expression on Big Show's face told the story.  Why am I here standing at a podium?  Why am I not pummeling the Irish man's face in, and why is he not smiling at the thought of doing the same instead of engaging me in this ridiculous farce?  After suffering through some potshots about the length of his last World Heavyweight Championship reign, The Big Show threw down his podium, got in Sheamus' face and walked away.  I absolutely loved the no-nonsense attitude that Big Show took, something that was missing during his WWE Championship pursuit.

The Big Show proceeded to call out Sheamus on his joking around the following Friday on SmackDown, to which Sheamus admitted Show being right.  Their night of getting one up on each other began as The Big Show got himself involved in Sheamus' match, only for Sheamus to do the same in a reversal of roles later in the night.  Even though The Big Show did not lay a finger on Sheamus, this stalemate concluded that this was much more of an even playing field than Sheamus has become accustomed to since winning the World Heavyweight Championship.

On last week's Raw, the conclusion to a fantastic match between Sheamus and future World Heavyweight Champion Wade Barrett saw Tensai storm the ring, angered over eating a Brogue Kick on SmackDown.  He got another one for his troubles on this night while Barrett managed to slip away unscathed, the first time in quite a while that one of Sheamus' opponents could say he did. 

The moment this feud went from being about just the championship to something more personal happened when Sheamus went to kick The Big Show.  This was not going to be an easy task to begin with, but the giant actually laughed at Sheamus for making the attempt.  With his basketball-sized hands, The Big Show caught Sheamus' foot and sent him tumbling over the top rope, giving Sheamus a bump on the head against the floor in the process.  While Sheamus looked dazed after that, he also looked genuinely concerned. 

Concerned as if to say "I might be in over my head."

Just in case we had not been convinced already, The Big Show once again pinned Randy Orton in the middle of the ring on last week's WWE Main Event.  With Sheamus watching, Big Show targeted Orton's ribs, injured from a post-SmackDown assault by Alberto Del Rio.  Big Show displayed no sign of mercy, exactly what he needed to do to convince us that his mind is where it should be to become champion.  He gave us yet another demonstration last Friday on SmackDown when Big Show, tired of the "demonstration" on the machine used to calculate how powerful the Brogue Kick is versus his KO punch and fed up with Sheamus' verbal jabs about needing a hug, obliterated the mark set by Sheamus.  

It was not until last night's Raw that Sheamus finally gained a bit of leverage, clotheslining The Big Show over the top rope and to the floor after once again winning by disqualification over Wade Barrett.  The six weeks in between Night of Champions and Hell in A Cell have been very kind to Big Show and Sheamus.  This kind of build is what you need to really put energy and passion into a feud, especially one over a championship.  We still have three more TV shows to watch Sheamus become increasingly concerned over his title.

Not only does Sheamus need to defeat The Big Show, he has at least two people now waiting in the wings for their opportunity.  Dolph Ziggler has stated openly that he intends to walk out of Hell in A Cell as the World Heavyweight Champion, and Sheamus must know that a cash-in immediately following the match is not out of the question.  Furthermore, Wade Barrett took Sheamus to the brink during both matches and looked last night to be the closest anyone has come in a year to pinning the Irishman.  Barrett will have a valid claim to a title shot with no clear winner in both matches.

Hell in A Cell is shaping up to be, if nothing else, a very unpredictable show.  WWE should be applauded for this.  I can clearly say that I am not certain who will walk out of the show with any of the WWE, World Heavyweight or Tag Team Championships.  Regardless of what happens with Dolph Ziggler's briefcase, Wade Barrett's contention and the Sheamus vs. Big Show match itself, I am glad to have watched such a great feud develop between the two.  It has been very interesting to see Sheamus no longer be the fun-loving hooligan every second of the day; he now looks like a time-tested champion wondering how much longer he can last.

The answer to that question is certainly longer than 18 or 45 seconds.  The bigger question is how many people Sheamus can fend off before it all becomes too much and he finally sinks. 

Hell in A Cell should give us an idea.