wrestling / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Is Sheamus The Right Champion?

November 27, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are 411’s Mathew Sforcina and Kevin Pantoja!

  • Questions were sent out Monday.
  • Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

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    1. Sheamus cashing in on Roman Reigns to win the WWE Title was the right call.

    Mathew Sforcina: FICTION – Although it’s a call I totally understand and, to be honest, one I could see myself making if I was in the position to do so. After all, the money isn’t in the reign, the money is in the chase. Reigns now has a legit beef against a champ who is a phony, and can now chase him and win at the Rumble to set up Reigns/Brock 2: Reign Harder at WrestleMania where everyone joins the Roman Empire and Billions are made and everything is sunshine and lollypops. Except that, to make that call, you have to ignore the facts about the WWE as a whole and the people specifically. See, the chase scenario only works if both the face and the heel are good at their job, since the heel has to piss people off and the face has to be able to rally the crowd. Sheamus’ heat is lukewarm, at best, and Reigns is improving but is not ready to be a chaser. Whereas the all conquering hero route, you only need a face to be good there, the tin can heels can be just ok and it can work. Given the state of the company, this was the time to go all in on someone. But WWE chose to hedge their bets instead. And that’ll lead to snake eyes, to mix my metaphors slightly.

    Kevin Pantoja: FICTION – I like Sheamus. I honestly do. I think he’s a damn good wrestler and can come off as a good badass heel. However, he’s been booked like total shit since winning Money in the Bank. Sheamus, when booked well, wasn’t a good draw. So image how it’s going to work with him being booked like a chump. With ratings in the tank, putting the title on someone like Sheamus isn’t the right move. They should have either gone the route of putting the belt on Roman Reigns or have something completely out of left field happen. Even if you don’t believe in a guy like Dean Ambrose, he’s over and he could have won here to have something different happen for a few months until Reigns gets his WrestleMania moment. With there only being one World Title, I think there are better options than Sheamus, even with the injury bug. Sheamus is one of the biggest victims of having the briefcase holder lose a ton, only to cash in so it can be surprising. Yea it’s somewhat of a surprise, but the champion doesn’t come off as worthy.

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    2. The Survivor Series PPV was one of the worst WWE PPVs/Special Events of 2015.

    Mathew Sforcina: FACT – The strength of that Fact depends on if you count NXT events in the list, but the fact is that while a lot of the big shows WWE has put out this year have been ok to just acceptable, and despite the show starting well with everything up until the New Day left the building, that ending is the problem. Boring is one thing, but actively being bad, that sticks out. From a wrestling standpoint it was ok, sure, but the storyline issues drag it down into contention for the worst. I don’t think it is the worst thanks to said match quality, but this is certainly up there.

    Kevin Pantoja: FACT – Easily. The year for WWE PPVs/Special Events hasn’t been very good in 2015. Most PPVs have been mediocre, with only WrestleMania being good. Granted, only one or two have been what I would consider flat out bad (I’m looking at you Royal Rumble), but Survivor Series was much closer to that than it was to the top of the crop. Nothing about the show was really worth a look. It had some pretty good matches from the tournament but everything else was lackluster. The show felt hollow and was completely skippable unless you wanted to see the stuff that happened at the end. In a year with a whole bunch of mediocre shows, this is in the bottom four or five. I’ve seen some people say the show was great and I honestly think they must have put on Survivor Series 2002 or something instead.

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    3. If they have to keep the match and gimmick, WWE should highly consider altering the Money in the Bank rule to make it similar to the NJPW G1 winner (the winner cashes in on an announced date, and also has to defend the briefcase until he cashes in).

    Mathew Sforcina: FICTION – In the sense that while I agree with the letter of the question, WWE should consider that, WWE should be considering every good idea out there, I disagree with the intent, in that MITB should be changed. I can see the advantages with that system, and I might even agree that making MITB a defendable thing has merit, the fact is that the gimmick does have a use, and can be used like that anyway, the main problem WWE has with the gimmick is the same one they have with titles generally, the idea that holding a title means you are bulletproof. Sheamus, for instance, lost and lost and lost all the way up to being the champ, and now has no credibility. The issue with MITB is the booking surrounding the person holding it, not the gimmick holding it. If you have to alter it, I’d say that change the rules slightly so that if you announce it ahead of time, say 30 days or more ahead, you can name the stipulations, provided they are not obviously biased to either side. That way there’s intrigue, in that do you keep it for a surprise and hope or do you stack the deck but give them time to prepare? I wouldn’t want to lose the surprise cash in element just because WWE has screwed up recently…

    Kevin Pantoja: FACT – I’m one of the people who like the Money in the Bank concept. It has created some great moments. Unfortunately, for every surprise cash in that works, there are more that fail. The only people that Money in the Bank surprise cash ins have worked to make a star were Edge, CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan. Other than that you have Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio and Miz to name a few. The idea of the cash in when the opponent is down is smart, but tired. We’ve seen the cash in after grueling matches, we’ve seen it happen on the same night that the person won the briefcase, and we’ve seen it at WrestleMania. What’s left to do? If they go the G1 Climax route, you create new opportunities. I don’t know exactly how they’d figure out challengers, but they could make it work. This way the person who wins the briefcase is sure to get some wins instead of the typical “have Mr. Money in the Bank lose a ton before cashing in for shock value.” It would create a more legitimate champion.

    SWITCH!

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    4. The Wyatt Family has no credibility and are completely done as a viable threat in WWE.

    Kevin Pantoja: FACT – This was a tough one. They aren’t completely done as a unit but they are done as a viable threat. Now, they’ll still win matches against midcarders. If Bray Wyatt feuds with Ryback again or Neville or Dolph Ziggler, etc. he’ll crush them. That was never the problem. The issue is that the Wyatt Family, mainly Bray, can’t win the big one. It all started at WrestleMania XXX. He came off big wins against Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. Then he lost to Cena on the big stage, looked like a total bitch in his win the next month and lost again after. He split with Chris Jericho, who couldn’t even beat Fandango before getting built back up and beating Dean Ambrose constantly. That hurt Ambrose’s momentum, only so Bray could carry an entire feud with the Undertaker BY HIMSELF, only to again, job on the big stage. Going into Survivor Series, Bray took Kane and Undertaker’s powers only to get his ass kicked by them leading up to the show and then they basically got squashed. Why should anyone take Bray seriously against any Superstar of relevance? You can’t take him seriously against them.

    Mathew Sforcina: FACT – What, exactly, does Bray Wyatt want? Does he want to destroy the WWE? Does he want to rule it? Wins and losses don’t matter to him apparently, so is he out to injure people? Does he want more followers? Does he just like to move the pieces around? Don’t get me wrong, the recent booking has been horrible and shovelled a few dozen mounds of dirt on the Family’s credibility, but that has been dead for a while. They could, in theory, come back from the dead, but it would have to be one hell of a comeback. But first and foremost, I’ve said it dozens of times and will say it dozens more, I’m sure. Give Bray Wyatt a goal. Doesn’t have to be a stated one, hell he can lie if you like (Raven did all the time), but just pick a Victoria-damn goal and write accordingly!

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    5. While TNA securing a TV deal for 2016 is great news for the company, the fact that they are still going to do mass TV tapings is not a good sign.

    Kevin Pantoja: FACT – I mean, the mass TV tapings themselves make sense for the company since it saves money, but that in itself is obviously a bad sign. They are a company that continue to hang on by the thinnest of threads. The mass TV tapings thing is something I’ve always hated. Hell, when Raw used to record three or four weeks at once it was too much and I believe TNA does way more at once. I was optimistic about the Destination America move but I can’t be about this one. They are gonna be on their third channel in less than two years, they’ve lost a TON of talent and there is just no good word of mouth about the company left. They are in terrible shape even with Dixie somehow pulling new TV deals out of her ass.

    Mathew Sforcina: FACT – I don’t want TNA to fold, as while I understand the hatred/disgust/apathy/amusement people have towards the company, I want as many opportunities for wrestlers out there as possible. So TNA still being alive via a new TV deal, I like that. But the TNA taping schedule, with the Frankenstein Monster approach to putting together storylines and such… That doesn’t fill me with confidence. I’m sure it makes sense financially, but a more regular booking schedule would fill me with a lot more confidence. But hey, the whole ‘Not Dead Yet’ thing is still good…

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    6. ROH scoring New Japan stars for their 14th anniversary weekend (PPV & TV tapings) makes you more likely to check out those shows.

    Kevin Pantoja: FACT – This is an easy fact. I’ve enjoyed Ring of Honor for the most part this year, outside of some questionable booking decisions. Now, New Japan Pro Wrestling has been the most enjoyable in ring product in 2015 for me, also despite some questionable booking moves. The stars of New Japan are an absolute must see though. I’m not sure who they bring, but considering they’ve used Shinsuke Nakamura, Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada and KUSHIDA lately, I’m all for this. It adds something to the typical ROH show when these guys are around. It puts really talented people on the card to work mostly fresh matches. Hopefully, these shows also include AJ Styles. ROH Pay-Per-Views normally deliver and having New Japan guys on will only help.

    Mathew Sforcina: FICTION – As an Australian, it is hard, but not impossible, to follow ROH as is. But to be honest, I’ve never been a huge ROH fan, in any incarnation of the product. The ROH style just isn’t my cup of tea, and while I want them to do well (See #5), I don’t have much interest in their product. New Japan is stuff I want to get into but hours in day and language barrier and such. And yes, I understand that ROH/NJPW cross over is a way to get over that, but still… I just can’t get excited or into ROH. More power to you if you can and are, but not me. I eagerly await your hatred below.