Fantasy Booking: Sheamus and the US Title

The mid-card titles of the WWE, the United States Championship and the Intercontinental Championship, and the wrestlers who currently hold them, have been woefully misused over the last few years. Let’s focus on the United States Championship, or US Title, for the time being. 

The current title-holder is Sheamus, who took the belt off Dean Ambrose in what was one of the most poorly executed start-then-suddenly-stop heel turns in recent memory. Sheamus, you see, is a bit stale. His character is basically the same as it was three years ago. WWE sought to shake things up a bit, and so they moved to turn him heel, using the slow burn heel turn. 

Whether or not this slow-burn turn is still in effect is debatable. Sheamus won the title by Brogue Kicking Dean Ambrose during a battle royal for the title. The Irishman tossed Ambrose from the ring and captured the gold. At the time, both wrestlers were babyfaces, though Ambrose was rather newly minted as a babyface. It was the perfect storm. Everyone knows that Sheamus is work-out partners with Triple H, so having him turn heel, and presumably join the Authority at some point, made great sense. 

But instead, WWE halted the heel turn and continued to run same old boring Sheamus out for match after match. Ambrose, meanwhile, drifted away from the US Title and was embroiled in a feud with Seth Rollins before being written out in order to film a movie. 

That leaves us with a stale babyface holding a mid-card title and no real challengers on the horizon. Sure, there’s been a bit of a program with Cesaro, but he’s another character stuck in WWE creative limbo. 

So let’s engage in some fantasy booking… 

Sheamus defeats Cesaro at Night of Champions, retaining the US Title. I personally think this is a given, so it’s not really fantasy. 

The next night on Raw, John Cena, having lost once again to Brock Lesnar, states his case that he’s the only one capable of defending the WWE against the Beast Incarnate. Triple H, tired of Cena’s schtick (aren’t we all?), calls him out. As the Authority surrounds Cena, looking to beat him down, Sheamus, the Big Show, and Mark Henry run down to make the save. Triple H sets up a tag team match featuring Cena and Sheamus against Rollins and Orton. 

As the match draws toward the end chaos ensues, as is typical for Raw, and all four men end up in the ring. Sheamus hits a Brogue Kick…on John Cena. He doesn’t even act like it was a mistake. Instead, he picks up Cena and hits and Irish Curse backbreaker and then White Noise. Sheamus turns to find Triple H standing on the ring apron. They shake hands. 

Violá, Sheamus is a heel and he’s in the Authority. This is automatic new life to the Sheamus character. Think back to his time as a heel when he first came to WWE. It’s that, but with the full backing of the front office. A newly-heel Sheamus can carry a program with Cena until Lesnar returns. He can function as the non-cowardly heel, willing to take on any fighters.

Of course, this is all just a crazy idea that'll likely never come to pass...