Sheamus Is WWE's Much-Needed Old-School Heel

Sheamus was the babyface fans loved to hate. Perhaps no one in WWE other than John Cena was as reviled for being a nice guy as The Celtic Warrior was. That has now changed. Sheamus has finally embraced the hate and let his inner villain out.

It could not come at a better time. Sheamus is WWE's much-needed heel.

The moment Sheamus returned, it was likely a sigh of relief for many of the WWE faithful. That's not because they missed him; again, he was hated during his last run. It was because he came back and turned heel.

Finally, fans got their wish. WWE Creative had apparently heard the negative reactions, understood what needed to be done and made the switch. Sheamus was back with a new attitude, a new look and a mean streak that had been dormant for quite some time. That mean streak took him straight through the man many feel is WWE's top babyface, Daniel Bryan.

Sheamus turned at Bryan's expense, officially killing any stroke he ever had as a face. Since that time, he has been the punishing, vindictive bruiser that fans knew and hated. They hate him even more now, of course, and that's a good thing.

It's the best thing that could have happened to Sheamus.

Sheamus was on the top tier in WWE at one time. He was a featured main event star and world champion. He was also a primary babyface, next only to Cena in terms of company support and TV time. He was more popular than fans likely thought he could be, and he remained that way for much of his run.

But then someone in WWE apparently decided to encourage Sheamus to become a clown. When that happened, the crowd went running in the other direction. Sheamus became hated, his promos were laughed at, and every time a heel got the advantage on him, fans could not be happier.

That was obviously not working for the company. The move was made to turn Sheamus, and WWE now has what it needs: an old-school heel. There is nothing redeeming about Sheamus now, and there is virtually no reason to like him or support him at all. The fans made their decision about him a long time ago, and now that he is on the opposite side of the fence, he seems to be back in his element.

Heels are supposed to be despised. They're supposed to be the worst of the worst with no one praising them for their actions. Sheamus is doing exactly what a heel character should, and while that's the way it needs to be, it's not the norm in WWE recently.

Fans like to cheer for the heels. Some do it out of respect, some do it for fun, and others do it because it's the popular thing to do. Bad News Barrett, Cesaro, and Damien Sandow have all received great fan response in the past several months even though they have all been rule-breakers.

Even WWE's top heel, Seth Rollins, has been known to get cheered. That's how serious some fans are when it comes to not following the typical heel-babyface dynamic.  

But Sheamus doesn't have to worry about that. He is a villain in every sense of the word. He does what he wants when he wants, and he does it with extreme malice. He smashes, he bashes, and he destroys everything in his path not because he's fighting for a title. He does it because he can.

Sheamus is the kind of heel that other heels need to be. Instead of looking to pop the crowd into a positive chant or becoming a middle-of-the-road character, heels need to be the ones getting booed, and Sheamus is the best possible example of that right now.

He can draw heat from the crowd. He can prep them for the babyface he will be working on any particular night, and he can be the object of disdain for every fan that sees him. That's what a heel is and what a heel does.  

Sheamus knows his role and will likely excel in it. And as hated as he is right now, it very well could be that the crowd will begin to support him again at some point. Maybe fans will begin to see how hard he's working and show him the same respect they now show to Barrett and Cesaro. That respect could even lead to him turning face once again, as was the case with Sandow.

But for right now, Sheamus is exactly where he needs to be. WWE needs more old-school heels for fans to hate, and it's important to maintain the classic good vs. evil scenario.  It's also good for Sheamus. His career gets a new life, and he gets the chance to once again wear the black hat.  

He just so happens to be very good at it.