Why Sheamus Winning The WWE Title Is A Smart Move For The Company

There's been a lot of backlash in the past few weeks on blogs, message boards and wrestling sites concerning the WWE deciding to put the WWE title around the waist of one of its newest superstars, Sheamus.

After debuting on ECW in June, many thought that the strapping Irishman would possibly make a run at that show's title, but probably never make it beyond Tuesday Night glory. Instead, after a short stay on the show, Sheamus was promoted to the RAW roster and portrayed as a monster heel, causing journeyman Jaime Noble to "retire" back in November after a vicious assault on the latter.

Sheamus's legend quickly grew after defeating many other up and coming superstars, and Randy Orton in a "break-through" battle royal to become the number one contender for John Cena's WWE title. Now poised near the top of the WWE pyramid, conventional wisdom would dictate that WWE creative would have halted his push at that moment.

Instead, he defeated Cena on December 13 at TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs and became the first ever Irish-born WWE champion.

And that's where the backlash really began.

Many reasoned that Sheamus had not paid his dues, or had not spent enough time with the company to warrant such a reward. What is being overlooked however, is that he spent around two years in WWE developmental before even being promoted to ECW. He was a champion there, and in several other promotions worldwide.

This is a huge check in the plus column for WWE, as he has global appeal. It shows little kids around the world that you don't need to be an American to be successful. The company is beginning to show this more and more, as Kofi Kingston (first Jamaica, and now his native Ghana), Drew McIntyre (Scotland), and Yoshi Tatsu (Japan) are all receiving considerable pushes on RAW, Smackdown, and ECW respectively.

It also frees up the company to give a face other than Cena a title run. Kingston, either member of D-X, or even Ted DiBiase (when he finally makes his long-teased face run) are all viable contenders for the title, and it becomes much easier to put them in a title match with a monster heel than with perpetual child-favorite Cena.

Other people don't like the move simply because they disagree with Sheamus's look. Yes, it's a fact that his skin seems to have never seen the sun. Yes, his hair is electric red.

If looks were a factor, Dusty Rhodes would not be a WWE Hall-of-Famer today. And the company might also be without another young talent, Dusty's son Cody.

How many more years do wrestling fan think that the Undertaker, Cena and Triple H keep up this breakneck pace that they have been on? Taker, the current World champion on Smackdown, has already missed tons of times over the past few years with various injuries. The same goes for Cena and Triple H.

Eventually, young talent needs to be assimilated into the company. Hence McIntyre winning the Intercontinental title, while Kingston, John Morrison, and the Hart Dynasty all continue to receive steady pushes.

The fact of the matter is, they are all supremely talented and will be a vital asset to Vince McMahon and Co. for many, many years to come.

And Sheamus is no exception. he has the size and look to be a serious contributor to the WWE and World title hunts for the next decade.

And worst case scenario, there's tanning booths and hair dye.