Photo credit: WWE
It seems that over the last few years WWE has attempted to line up any number of debuts, returns, cameos, and rare appearances around the WrestleMania season in order to drum up attention for the biggest show of the year and the television around it. This year was no exception as Mania brought out Sting, Triple H, and the Undertaker and Raw saw the debut of the Lucha Dragons and Neville. It makes for an exciting time for sure, but this year I found myself absolutely dreading one return: Sheamus.
As of late, I’ve really grown tired of the Celtic Warrior and his entire shtick. I expected the return would be more of the same, and I really wasn’t looking forward to it. However, when the Great White re-emerged on the March 30 episode of Raw it was clear something had changed. With his fiery red hair cut into a ridiculous mohawk and new beaded braids in his beard, everyone quickly realized that we weren’t getting the same old Sheamus. The change was quickly cemented when the big Irishman laid a beat down on Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler, completing a much anticipated heel turn in the process. It was not only a turn that was way overdue, but the absolute right decision to make an all too often goofy good guy into a villain we’re going to love to hate.
Let me establish this up front – I don’t dislike Sheamus. He’s a big guy who can put on entertaining matches when used properly. I liked his first heel run back in 2009 or 2010 when he was booked as a destroyer. I vividly remember the assaults he put on Jamie Noble (effectively ending his career) not too long after making his Raw debut. And who could forget the pay-per-view where he ambushed John Cena with a pipe as the show went off the air? He was getting over and WWE knew it, so they strapped a jet pack on the guy, blasting him to the top of the card by putting the title on him when he was still basically a rookie and even using him to write Triple H off the TV at one point in 2010. Sheamus was brutal, and it was fun to watch. The problem was, as with many monster characters, it wasn’t sustainable. It seemed that WWE ran out of ideas to keep him relevant as a heel. His post-King of the Ring run as “The High King” Sheamus was forgettable and silly, further highlighting how lost they were with the character. So, they turned to the worst idea of all and they turned Sheamus face.
The turn was really where things started to unravel as the babyface Sheamus was just one bad choice after another. Admittedly, it could have worked. People like brawling, tough good guys, and Sheamus would fit that bill. Unfortunately, the character kept moving further and further from “tough” and closer and closer to goofy until he was basically a giant version of Hornswoggle. His “fella” catchphase turned him into a caricature of the person he once was. WWE saddled him with the ridiculously stupid “Great White” nickname. He started doing commercials for WWE’s relationship with K-Mart, which further chipped away at this credibility as a killer. Perhaps worst of all, he started trying to be funny. It was like he watched all the worst parts of John Cena’s goofiest promos and not only stole the style but made it worse. I can think of no better example than when he was feuding with Alberto Del Rio and insisted on calling him “Bertie”. Constantly. Every time he spoke to him. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t interesting, and every time he said it I cringed. That was the last Sheamus I wanted to see. Thankfully, this revitalized Sheamus isn’t that guy. No longer are we headed down a silly face path – at least not yet – and Sheamus has a chance to regain purpose and direction back to being meaningful.
This newest edition of Sheamus will provide something that WWE always needs: heels that people want to boo. Sheamus is a solid addition to the mid-card and the Intercontinental Title picture. The matches he’s been working with Ziggler since returning shows exactly how he should be used. His match with Ryback on the 5/18 edition of Raw worked too. The fans are all over him, and he rides it well. He knows how to exploit it. The crowd needs someone to hate, and Sheamus fits the bill. His new look with the mohawk and the beard braids is absurd enough to already garner “You Look Stupid” chants, something that will undoubtedly haunt him for this run. To put it bluntly, he looks like a guy you want to see get beat up. That’s a good thing for a bad guy. It’s been said that one of the biggest problems for heels in WWE right now is that people don’t want to boo a guy that’s cool that does a lot of amazing moves. Sheamus isn’t going to have that problem. In a lot of ways, he could be a throwback old school villain. Over the past few weeks he’s done the classic “run for cover” move. He’s feigned injuries to get the upper hand. A lot of people hate those tactics, and that’s the whole point. That’s what makes him the guy to root against, and that’s how you know that the character is working. It’s a complete one-eighty from what he was before. Instead of pandering to the crowd, he’s drawing its ire, and it’s a much better look.
Sheamus is at his best when he’s at his worst, and I’ll take this despicable bully over a goofy do-gooder any day.
