5 Better Opponents for Sheamus than Del Rio

Before I kick-off this week, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who’s read the series of “In Profile” interviews that we’ve done lately. I know that the girls we’ve interviewed (Jezabeth, Bacardi, Nikki Storm and Sammii Jayne) all really appreciated your support, so we’ll look to catch up with them again soon. If there’s anyone you want us to interview, then leave a comment here or post a topic on the SLTD forum and we’ll try to work something out!

OK, so this blog is going to be about picking 5 better opponents for Sheamus than Alberto del Rio. If you’ve listened to our SLTD Radio shows lately, you’ll know that (apart from Mark), we’re generally sick and tired of del Rio getting World Title opportunities, because frankly, he’s boring and his overall character just isn’t connecting with the audience. I’ve kinda stolen Mark’s gimmick here and gone a bit “Statso”, but I did some research before writing this blog and came across something interesting.

Since Wrestlemania 27, del Rio has had 11 WWE/World Title matches and won twice. I’m not counting his MiTB cash-in at Summerslam last year because it was after the announced match. The two wins he’s had have been in gimmick matches, so he’s yet to win the belt in “normal” circumstances. I don’t want to waste too much time going into why I don’t like del Rio, so check out this blog I wrote last month about why del Rio is the blandest man on the current roster.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s look at 5 guys Sheamus could defend against instead of del Rio. I’ll only be using guys named on the official Smackdown roster because unlike WWE, I actually care about the brand split! The list isn’t in any specific order.

Rey Mysterio

Although he’s got a concussion right now, I reckon a match between Mysterio and Sheamus would be entertaining. Mysterio’s always good to watch in the ring and the big Irish fella has come a long way in the last year to be able to put on some great matches as World Heavyweight Champion. Rey doesn’t need the win, so if Sheamus was to get that defining victory that’s missing from his title reign, it might give his title run a bit more credibility.

Christian

Christian’s one of the best wrestlers on the entire roster, but for some reason, WWE don’t believe in him as a main-eventer, which is weird when you think about how many chances Alberto’s had to get over as a top guy. Anyway, Christian’s the same as Rey in the sense that he’s established enough as a credible WWE wrestler to give Sheamus that “rub” by working with him. A Sheamus/Christian feud could be REALLY good.

Cody Rhodes

Let’s be clear about this. Cody Rhodes is a future World Champion. He’s in the same position this year that Dolph Ziggler was in last year. Having consistently great matches and under-utilised by the company. He had a brief feud with Randy Orton last year and proved he can cut it in the ring with main-eventers. It’s only a matter of time before Rhodes becomes World Champion and I reckon his style would work well up against Sheamo.

Randy Orton

Randy, Randy, Randy. You’ve got all the talent in the world and yet somehow, you still manage to f**k things up. Whether it’s Wellness violations or backstage attitude, something always seems to go wrong. Since he’s come back, it’s like he’s only wrestling because he has to, not because he wants to. I said that on the last episode of SLTD Radio. Anyway, regardless of his “history”, Orton’s one of the best wrestlers in the world. He makes wrestling look easy because he paces everything brilliantly. Orton’s not being pushed at the moment, but it won’t be long before he collides with Sheamus.

Daniel Bryan

I know it’s not been that long since we’ve seen “mah man, D-Bry” tangle with Sheamus, but I could watch them wrestle all night. Bryan’s the most over superstar in the entire WWE right now and he deserves better than being shunted back down the card into a pointless feud with Kane. Bryan might not look like a champion, but you’d struggle to find a better wrestler and character in the WWE right now. With Sheamo’s sense of humour and Bryan being “nuts”, it would make for great matches and great TV. It might even give me a reason to start watching Smackdown again.

What do you guys think? As usual, leave a comment below or hit me up on Twitter @georgec1982 and let me know who you’d rather see Sheamus feuding with!

George