Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun had this to say about the mega-push Sheamus is receiving by facing John Cena at the WWE:TLC pay per view next month:
Most weeks, Jesse Ventura appearing on Raw and reuniting with former broadcast partner Vince McMahon at the announce table would be the most noteworthy thing on the show. But as great as it was to see “The Body” back on WWE programming as the guest host for Monday night’s eventful three-hour episode of Raw, the big news is that a young wrestler was elevated to main event status and will face John Cena for the WWE title on the next pay-per-view in three weeks.
The disappointing news – in my opinion, at least – is that the guy WWE hand-picked to be the chosen one is Sheamus.
Sheamus? To borrow a line from The Miz: “Really?”
Speaking of The Miz, I think he would have been a better choice for the spot. So would Jack Swagger. And Ted DiBiase Jr. And MVP. On the Smackdown side, I look at guys such as John Morrison, R-Truth, and Dolph Ziggler (more about him later) as being more worthy of breaking through the glass ceiling. I think newcomer Drew McIntyre also has more star potential than the “Celtic Warrior.” Heck, if WWE is so intent on elevating a monster heel, why not Mike Knox?
It’s not like I think Sheamus is a bad worker or anything, and he does have a unique look going for him. But from what I have seen so far, he just seems to be lacking the “it” factor. I’m not saying that I think he’s a lost cause as far as becoming a more significant player, but there is no way that he should be pushed to the moon this fast. He’s only been on Raw for five weeks. A few months ago he was losing matches to Goldust on ECW.
OK, so here’s where the conspiracy comes in, and it’s not one that Ventura will be talking about on his new “Conspiracy Theory” show on truTV. It has been all over the Internet as of late that Sheamus’ sudden push is the result of him being the workout partner of Triple H, who obviously wields a lot of power backstage.
I don’t know for certain what is behind the rapid rise of Sheamus, but let’s assume that the Triple H stories are true. It would be unfortunate for all of the guys I mentioned above, but it is what it is. As we all know, pro wrestling is highly political and making the right friends is important. But, ultimately, no matter how connected someone is or how hard they’re pushed, the fans will decide whether or not they make it as a top guy.
I will say this much for Triple H: The last two guys he anointed as the next big things were Randy Orton and Batista, so he has a pretty good track record.
