Sheamus As WWE Champion

Prior to Survivor Series this week, Sheamus had held World titles a few times. They all came during that era where there were 2 major World titles in the WWE. He won the WWE Championship twice, but neither of those reigns were too long. He got a solid run with the World's Heavyweight Championship, but he still obviously was not the centerpiece of the company. Since unifying the titles, you might expect the WWE would be a little more selective with whom they put the title on. Someone like Sheamus, who had fallen into the midcard in recent years, would not be someone to put the title on, especially with how poorly he had been developed. Since his feud with Randy Orton ended, he had not been a part of a big feud. Even his feud with Orton was starting to drag on. Put it all together, I would have expected him to fail when he eventually cashed in.

And he now holds the WWE Championship. Triple H and Sheamus screwed Roman Reigns out of the title at Survivor Series. Sheamus has been elevated, but will this last long? Or is this just to eventually put the title back on Roman Reigns? Sheamus may have title credibility, but how many people really view him as a big star? Ratings will likely be bad in the weeks to come, but that will be more out of the poor quality of the product and this time of year typically being bad for the WWE, not necessarily Sheamus lacking through star power.

I still think the WWE should have turned Ambrose heel and had him win. Ambrose has actually been pushed better than Sheamus in recent years. Even with periods of inconsistency here and there, the WWE has placed Ambrose in more PPV main events. And Ambrose being the one to turn on Roman Reigns would have had better creative value to it.

Or how about just letting Roman Reigns keep the title? Sheamus would still have lots of time to be developed further and cash in down the line. Problem is, the WWE would need a top heel for him to work with. I doubt Triple H would put on his wrestling boots to feud with Roman Reigns now. They could revisit his feud with Bray Wyatt. They could put him against Sheamus with Sheamus as the challenger. Elevate Miz? Not a lot of great options available. The lack of great heels is probably the best reason for not letting Reigns keep the title. As much as they need to build a new centerpiece, they also need to build credible heels for that centerpiece to work against. And that is why I can understand Reigns not keeping the title. Aside from that, I don't think anything will stop the WWE from giving him a proper title run the next time he wins it.