WWE Hell in a Cell Results: What's Next for Sheamus?

Sheamus lost in his first-ever Hell In A Cell match last night at the pay-per-view of the same name. While the two-time WWE champion came close to regaining the gold from Randy Orton, The Celtic Warrior now has lost in consecutive title matches at consecutive pay-per-views. Sheamus came into Night of Champions two weeks ago with the gold, only to lose it to Orton.

So what is next for the only Irish-born WWE champion in history?

Well, Sheamus is no longer entitled to a No. 1 contender spot when Orton likely retains in three weeks at Bragging Rights. Tonight's episode of RAW will likely explain how the new top contender will be decided.

With Orton as a face and WWE reluctant to sway from their "heel-versus-face" system very often, signs point to Sheamus to be first in line for the next shot.

Among top heels on RAW, Chris Jericho is gone (at least for now), Edge is off destroying things that are stupid, and Nexus will likely play around with their newest tool, John Cena. (Did I just call John Cena a tool on purpose? Perhaps.)

I foresee Wade Barrett becoming the No. 1 contender for Bragging Rights and using Cena as a pawn to try and win the championship. This remains to be seen, however.

From a personal standpoint, I wrote an article previewing this pay-per-view in which I stated that the fall of Sheamus begins at Hell In A Cell. In the piece, I said to "expect Sheamus to be moved down a peg and take the long way back to the top. He won't job to people or anything, but he won't be nearly as dominant as before."

Despite the fact that Sheamus did all he could in the cell on Sunday, it wasn't enough and it has turned Sheamus and his relationship into a joke. After Sheamus lost the WWE title the first time, he needed a feud to prove that it wasn't a fluke.

Insert Triple H. For months now, we have heard about how Sheamus was the one who "took out The Game." All the while, we hoped for HHH's music to hit and get some payback. Once Triple H is ready to roll again, he will return for vengeance, likely costing Sheamus another title shot or the title altogether.

From there, the two will feud, hopefully giving them both a chance to captain their own teams at Survivor Series, a place where Sheamus was first introduced to most of the WWE universe last year.

It can then all be over with the HHH/Sheamus feud by the TLC pay-per-view, another significant venue for Sheamus' career, or can spill into the Royal Rumble in January. From there, Sheamus could return to the Elimination Chamber, where his beef with HHH spawned from, and try his hand at the championship once again.

While many can agree that Sheamus certainly has the potential to be a top-tier wrestler to all, if not by most already, he needs to be away from the WWE championship for a while.

Fans that never saw ECW didn't even know who this guy was when he defeated John Cena back in December at TLC. For the last year, it has been all that Sheamus has been involved with.

In order for the fans to take him seriously as one of the main men in WWE, Sheamus must be reborn. He must be taken away and show his true worth to the fans.

In a business driven by pay-per-view sales, merchandise, and television ratings, fans will get tired very quickly of Sheamus being good enough for the title, only to suddenly not be. Consistency is the key for Sheamus and the small slide for The Celtic Warrior will help build some credibility back.