WWE News: WWE Wants Sheamus To Be Their Version Of UFC’s Conor McGregor
Sheamus has been the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for a total of 13 days now, and his title reign hasn’t exactly set the wrestling world on fire. Before Survivor Series, where he won the title after cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Roman Reigns, some speculated that Sheamus would walk out of the event as the new WWE Champ, but those same people didn’t think that it was a realistic possibility, as WWE is losing more and more viewers every single week. Sheamus as champion didn’t seem like something that would convince the viewers who are choosing to spend their Monday nights doing something else to come back and watch RAW.
WWE management didn’t seem to think putting the title on Sheamus was a bad idea, hence why they did it. But, the real question is, why did they do it? Well, there are two answers to that question.
The first answer is simple: WWE felt that by having Sheamus cash in and win, the fans would feel sorry for Roman Reigns, thus building not only sympathy for WWE’s chosen one, but also making the fans clamor to see Reigns regain the industry’s top prize.
The second answer may cause many, especially those who are more hardcore WWE fans, to roll their eyes — WWE wants, and thinks that Sheamus can be their version of the UFC’s Conor McGregor, who, other than Ronda Rousey, is the UFC’s biggest star.
McGregor is one of the most polarizing personalities in the UFC, and in sports in general. He’s often been compared to Ric Flair, due to him always being dressed in a suit, even when he’s coaching on The Ultimate Fighter. He’s also full of confidence, and up to this point, has backed up everything he’s said in the octagon. If he ends up winning the UFC featherweight championship this Saturday night, he’ll likely become the biggest star in combat sports.
Sheamus on the other-hand has been in WWE, including developmental, for nearly a decade, and he hasn’t even come close to reaching the level of popularity that McGregor has reached in just a few years in the UFC. But, it’s not for lack of trying on WWE’s part, as they have done so many things with Sheamus hoping that he will become one of the company’s biggest stars.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer said on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE is really going to try to make Sheamus into their own version of Conor McGregor.
As for why WWE thinks Sheamus can be their version of Conor McGregor, well, they see that both of them are Irish, so there’s one thing that they have in common. They also see that McGregor is always wearing a suit, hence why Sheamus came out with a suit on several weeks ago on RAW.
So far, Sheamus hasn’t quite been on McGregor’s level in terms of being a character to say the least. Since “The Great White” has been WWE World Heavyweight Champion, WWE’s television ratings have gotten worse. However, to say that Sheamus being champion is the problem with the show would be an incorrect assessment of the product, although it would’ve almost certainly been a better idea to put the title on almost anyone else.
As for when Sheamus will finally lose the title, well, the common belief is that he’ll drop it to Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January. But, there is a small chance that he’ll end up holding onto the WWE World Heavyweight Championship until WrestleMania 32 in April.
[Featured image via WWE]
