WWE SummerSlam 2011 Results: What's Next for Sheamus After Loss to Mark Henry?

The Celtic Warrior, Sheamus, fell short in his quest to defeat Mark Henry last night at SummerSlam. Despite getting a few great moves on Mark Henry, Sheamus' loss came down to one moment. After a Brogue Kick, Henry fell through the ropes and out of the ring. Instead of letting Henry sit outside the ring and win the match via count-out, Sheamus went to the outside to retrieve The World's Strongest Man.

Henry countered Sheamus, picking him up and putting his back into the ring-post. Instead of a World's Strongest Slam on the outside, which seemed possible, Henry rammed Sheamus into the barricade, breaking the area into a few pieces.

Henry, not Sheamus, won the match by count-out. For a minute, it looked as if Sheamus was going to crawl back into the ring to beat the count of 10. If he had, the crowd would seem to be on board with it. It's funny how when Orton or Cena does it, it is a bad thing. If Sheamus doesn't do it, it is encouraged. That's a double standard, people.

Getting back to the actual match result, Mark Henry would seem to have gotten rid of one of his strongest foes in one of the biggest venues he has wrestled at in a while. The victory would seem to give Henry a title shot, which makes sense, especially with Randy Orton's world championship win. After all, I have said before that this match was an unofficial No. 1 contender's match.

So what does this do for Sheamus? Does he now get taken off of the card for next month, a pay-per-view called Night of Champions, which implies championship matches? Probably not. Christian will be offered a championship rematch to Orton's World Heavyweight Championship and Mark Henry has literally muscled himself into the title picture. Since Sheamus was not officially pinned in the bout, he could sneak into it as well and turn it into a Fatal 4-Way match. This would have two faces and two heels in the match and show off all of the talent on the top of the SmackDown brand.

Sheamus has matched up well with Orton in the past, fighting over the WWE Championship a year ago, even facing each other for the title at last year's SummerSlam. We all know his history with Henry, but it was Christian who Sheamus looked to roll over earlier this summer. Christian was getting chance after chance and Sheamus literally had just one shot since coming to SmackDown. In that match, Christian was the referee and turned heel.

For as great as the Orton/Christian matches have been, they are getting to be boring to see. There are other people on the roster who are talented for that brand. After all, the only reason that Orton, Henry and Sheamus are on SmackDown is because of Edge. They were brought in to strengthen the brand, but only Orton seems to have risen all the way to the top.

Demoting Sheamus to chase Cody Rhodes' new Intercontinental Championship is a demotion for him and just makes it look like Sheamus is trying to collect all possible championship belts. All he needs is the World Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles to have all possible singles titles in WWE. Sheamus can be a world champion on SmackDown, especially now that he is the No. 2 face behind Orton. Orton is practically a tweener at this point anyway, attacking whoever he feels like. Sheamus has the same capabilities, making the dynamics of these two faces squaring off all the more intriguing.

Sheamus would probably be on the outside looking in on the title picture. Sheamus will have gone one whole year without a world championship at Night of Champions, losing in a six-pack challenge at last year's event to Orton of all people. In that time, he has been given a King of the Ring moniker and a United States Championship. This still doesn't make up for having him built so strong and kept out of world title matches for the most part.

Sheamus proved, even in defeat on Sunday, that he is capable of being a world champion. His skills have improved in the last year as he has adapted new moves into his arsenal. His mic skills are also better as his popularity has improved, regardless of him being a face right now. Now, people actually want to see Sheamus as a world champion, while Orton being as dominant as he is, begins to grow thin on the patience of fans.

Before risking Orton being relegated to a John Cena-esque type of popularity, take the championship off of Orton for some time and let him chase it. Since coming to SmackDown, Orton hasn't gone more than four weeks without a world championship.

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