Why Lesnar's reign mattered and Sheamus's doesn't

[The Possum]

Okay, Brock Lesnar and Sheamus O'Shaunnessy are very similar in the respects that they debuted with no background in mainstream wrestling, got monster pushes, and won the WWE Championship less than a year after their first television match. The difference is that Lesnar was a dominant force and Sheamus feels like an afterthought.

Think about it, Lesnar went over people like The Hardy Boys, Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker, and The Rock. Sheamus went over Goldust, Jamie Noble, then put John Cena through a table in a flukey type of victory. I'll give them the fact that Sheamus won the breakout battle royal, but still, he has not at any point been the focus of the show. Brock Lesnar disrupted the main event scene and overall feel of the product. Since Sheamus's title win, it has been business as usual on Raw. He is living in the shadow of DX and Hornswoggle.

I would also like to add that I don't blame Sheamus. This is indubitably the way he's booked. He's been just a guy who's kind of there and has the WWE title. He backs down from Cena and Orton every week and every time he's on the show it seems like they're using him just for the sake of putting the WWE Champ on the show.

[rawthentic]

The quick push is the only thing comparable, but as you mentioned the quick push was a lot different.

Unlike Sheamus: I did not laugh when i saw Brock Lesnar. He was believable as somebody who would come right in and beat the crap out of everybody. His move set was devastating. He was/still is a freakish athlete the size of a bull. He had arguably the best moutpiece for "the next big thing" in Paul Heyman.

Disregarding the reign, this can be considered a "why Lesnar mattered and Sheamus probably never will" discussion.

[Krimzon]

Irish Lesnar is called that simply for comedic purposes. In no way, shape, or form should he even be in the same conversation as Lesnar. Lesnar had it and you knew it right off the bat. Sheamus doesn't, at least not yet.

[BxB]

Lesnar was the best booked wrestler of the last decade in my opinion. My older brother stopped watching wrestling in the late 90's, and even he would sit down and watch Lesnar's matches with me because of how he caught his attention. Sheamus is being booked as a chicken crap heel and it's not working for him.

[MrBRulzOK]

Sheamus at least being booked for the most part as a threat. He hasn't been pinned once since he came to RAW, even before he became WWE Champion. He's successfully laid out both Orton and Cena, the latter more than once. He even got to confront Mike Tyson, even though that really didn't lead to much. Still, the guy could be alot worse off then he is currently. I mean, just look at almost anybody else that's currently being "pushed" on RAW.

That said though, yeah... Brock is way more credible than Sheamus. Really though, what else did you expect to happen when they hot shotted the guy straight into the main event just so they could say that they don't have all the same guys in the main event picture.

[MGH]

The one plus to this semi-forgettable (to this point) reign is that Sheamus' crowd reactions have grown and grown. He isn't Rock coming to the ring in his suit in 1999 or anything, but compared to when he was beating up Goldust and Jamie Noble, he's much more legitimate in the eyes of the fans and the reactions pan that out.

It's hard to compare anyone to Lesnar and have them come out favorably. Lesnar may have gotten the strongest initial debut push and six month run in wrestling history. I do agree though that Sheamus is an after thought when you see how featured he is compared to DX, or even his old opponent Cena. They should have to track him down and get their air time back from him. Not the other way around.

[elryc]

They went 70 minutes tonight without even mentioning him. Whenever he loses the strap, he's going to freefall right back down into the midcard.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2010 0:23:18 GMT -5 MrBRulzOK said:

Sheamus at least being booked for the most part as a threat. He hasn't been pinned once since he came to RAW, even before he became WWE Champion. He's successfully laid out both Orton and Cena, the latter more than once. He even got to confront Mike Tyson, even though that really didn't lead to much. Still, the guy could be alot worse off then he is currently. I mean, just look at almost anybody else that's currently being "pushed" on RAW.

That said though, yeah... Brock is way more credible than Sheamus. Really though, what else did you expect to happen when they hot shotted the guy straight into the main event just so they could say that they don't have all the same guys in the main event picture.

Yes he was pinned by Goldust cleanly on SuperStars. I WAS THERE!!!!

[Perigryn]

Sheamus hasn't really brutalized anyone on his way to the main event. What he did to Jamie Noble was one thing...but what Lesnar did to Zack Gowan....

[kropotkin]

Am I the only one who see him losing the belt at some point only to be released a short time thereafter and end up in TNA? Perhaps even booked as someone who could actually be a serious main event presence (i.e. Christian in TNA). Shame for the guy to get the biggest prize in the game and to just be kind of...there.

[Kevin Hamilton]

I like 'em both, but there's really no comparison, Brock was pretty much light years ahead of Sheamus in virtually any way that counts.

[xxshoyuweeniexx]

He brutalizes Cena and Orton, but even though he hasn't been pinned yet on Raw...he's yet to pin an actual main eventer. He does all this huffing and puffing and looking tough at the end of the show, but his matches with Cena end in DQ. A match like a tables match, especially when it looked really flukey since Cena was really shaky up there, does not prove that you deserve to be WWE Champion.

I really think that Sheamus will drop right back down to the midcard when this is done. He won't main event Wrestlemania like this, the guy who is hardly mentioned on the show and beats people up... yet wins over actual main eventers by DQs.

[American Dragon]

Jan 26, 2010 0:42:30 GMT -5 kropotkin said:

Am I the only one who see him losing the belt at some point only to be released a short time thereafter and end up in TNA? Perhaps even booked as someone who could actually be a serious main event presence (i.e. Christian in TNA). Shame for the guy to get the biggest prize in the game and to just be kind of...there.

What is Sean Irish doing in the Impact Zone?!?

[crash1984]

It is all about long term plans. If you would have told me a few weeks after his debut that Brock Lesnar was going to be champion at Summerslam I would have believed you. Had some site said in November that Sheamus was going to be WWE Champion at TLC I would have taken it as NEWZ. What was the difference between Lesnar and Sheamus? Lesnar was built up from the very beginning as a someone who was going to be WWE Champion and was going to lead the WWE into the future. Sheamus on the other hand did not get such a buildup.

Lesnar got some big victories between his debut and Summerslam 2002. The only big victory Sheamus got was over Morrison at Survivor Series. Up until that point he had for the most part been in squash matches. My reaction to him winning the battle royal was along the lines of WTF and him actually winning the WWE Championship was an even larger WTF.

[jivesoulbrah]

Around 5:10

[Ian Austin]

Sheamus hasn't really brutalized anyone on his way to the main event. What he did to Jamie Noble was one thing...but what Lesnar did to Zack Gowan....

Lesnar was two world title reigns down at that point.

Sheamus... he's not a Lesnar yet, and might never hit that peak. But he's not bombing in the role. He's doing as well as anyone can with the booking, same as CM Punk did with his first reign. The WWE are noting this and are likely impressed that he's not stumbling or tripping over himself.

[CMWaters]

I question this though:

If Sheamus manages to get a clean victory over Orton this Sunday, will that "make" Sheamus as a champion, or will he need another big victory before that?

I.E.: despite being WWE Champion twice by that point, some friends of mine I talk to via chat think that John Cena as WWE Champion wasn't really established as THE CHAMP until he made Triple H tap out at WrestleMania.

[Back to being Cenanuff]

This is a totally different WWE than in Lesnar's time. The sad reality is, Cena and DX are the focal points because they sell the most merchandise. And actually, Sheamus has a wrestling background. He helped start a wrestling school in Ireland. And if you've seen any of his promo work from that time, you'd know that he's pretty good on the stick, it's just the WWE won't let him talk. I disagree about the going back to the midcard thing, though. He's got friends in high places, if you know what I mean.

[repomark]

Ending Jamie Noble's career was not enough to push Sheamus to the main event scene - they clearly should have put him over progressively more credible opponents at consecutive PPVs. For instance give him a win over Kofi Kingston, then maybe one of DX which then earns him a shot at Cena. You cant just put the belt on someone as a means to push them - they need to be built before they get it.

They got it right with Lesnar. With Sheamus so far they have got it all wrong.

[Sharpy Snow]

I'll say it now. I never liked Brock. Call me crazy if you like, but I never cared for him.

I mark for Big Red though.