People need to realize that just being around a company doesn't mean you get an automatic place in line to win a major championship. Not every wrestler is cut out for winning the biggest prize.
I'm not saying WWE is right or wrong in who they're pushing (I don't watch, so I don't know), but it's a fact of life, just being around for awhile and being talented doesn't mean you should be World Champ at some point.
This is true. Longevity alone does not make one worthy of a "top spot", although I would add that longevity alone does not make one worthy of keeping a top spot either. This part does not necessarily apply to the ME scene atm, since the guys do draw money, but I can think of examples in the past where the crowd absolutely loathed the ME scene in a number of companies, but the argument was "they are established".
I may be alone in this, but I have always watched for the drama and watching a performer rise through the ranks, so that when they reach a "top spot", it feels more natural that they should be there. This, however, is a slow process, and one that I see Kofi, for example, on right now.
He is being built up the way guys used to be built. It takes months or even several years, but when the moment arives, people give a damn because they have invested money, time, and emotion into the character.
Shaemus, and this may just be me, is a heel Goldberg. He has talent, but is very very green in certain areas. Nonetheless, someone has decided that they must strike immediately, while the iron is still being heated up rather than waiting for that moment when the iron is hot and the time is perfect.
It's fine, it CAN work, especially for a heel, but it requires a good deal of focus and attention being paid to the character to keep the heat rising. If he becomes an afterthought, then the fans will lose their reason to care. This isn't good at all, as it serves no one.
I can grasp the idea that they look at certain people and say "this is who we want in the main event, we will get them there quickly so that we can establish them as main event once they are already there". It's their perogative, it's a system that can work, but it has a far higher potential to fizzle out than a slow build does.
Ultimately, the question is, which is more important, merchandise sales in terms of small items (t-shirts and what not) or PPV buys?
A fast build of a character, particularly a rocket-up-their-ass babyface, will sell the small ticket stuff right away, it will even possibly increase buyrates over the short term. However, in the long-term, the attitude of the paying loyal customer, as opposed to the more fickle casual fan, becomes "seen that, what else is on?"
The goal, ideally, is to make the casual fan a loyal follower, make them not spend once, but many times over their lifetime. A slow build to a character, and in fact many characters, can keep resetting the suspense button. Think of it as a soap opera.
Most soap opera storylines don't last a month, they take years to develop. You watch, you get hooked, you care more (I'm assuming here, I don't typically watch them), and thus you provide the viewership and, in wrestling's case, revenue dollars that they need.
If you have something that is amazing and special, adn you want to keep it that way, then less becomes more. Hogan in the 1980's was an absolute rarity on free television. You can probably count on two hands the number of times he appeared on free TV from 1985 to 1989 and had actual matches.
That kept the special, the mystique. Now? Now whomever is champion is handled in one of two ways.
If they are a main event fixture (Trips, Cena, and so on) they are in four segments, giving promos, having matches, and so forth at least once a week if not more. This will burn an audience out and kill the long-term shelf-life of the character eventually.
The other option is what we see with SHaemus so far, what we saw with Jericho and Orton's first run, or even Benoit. They were the "champion", titularly the "top dog", but they were treated by the on-air product as an also ran, less important than those who had already been established.
This doesn't draw money, and in truth is not intended to. It is a placeholder, and a shame to be honest. It COULD draw money if they were shown as important and special, but, as I've said for years, if you treat soemone like a joke on air, the casual fan will react to them in exactly the same manner. They will not care unless they are told specifically that they should care.
My worry for Shaemus is that he is being booked thus far as "I have my title, I will now go hide somewhere with it". Great cowardly heel move, except that's not what he is. He is a monster, a killer, and more or less a sociopath who wants to hurt people.
Let him do that.
I don't mean beat MVP or Jamie NOble, I mean take someone apart that the fans area invested in. Make them bleed (figuratively, since literal is a no-no at this point), and make sure the fans know (not necessarily through Shaemus' own words, but through body language and the announce team) that he enjoys that.
Then, when the rematch happens, no gimmicks, it needs to be a war, take it all over the place, but leave the weapons out of it. Brawl, and have Shaemus retain. After the match, he continues the beating without saying a word.
Follow that, have Cena off TV for two or three weeks, more if possible. Continue Shaemus' path of destruction, upping the violence level each week. Draw this out past the Rumble if you want.
Slowly bring Cena back through interviews but keep him out of the ring at all costs. Have things progress over time where each interview gets upped in intensity and the grey area. Make the fans wonder what the beating did to Cena.
Thus, once the feud that has taken months comes to its peak, the fans are ready for it. They want to see Cena get the title back. You can give it to them, but turn the emotion up even more. Throw a few weapon spots in, adding a little color (not necessarily Muta, but a trickle can do wonders for a feud ender) and a few spots that the fans haven't seen before will add to the "pulling out all the stops" feel.
In the end, Cena goes over, gets his title back. Benefit is, the feud has lasted months instead of weeks, and what was a "typical monster" is now an established ME badass who can hang with anyone. The fans will continue to care instead of just moving on to the next challenger.