Cross Examination: Sheamus Is Not The Prototype For Mr. Money In The Bank

The Money in the Bank Ladder match turns the nerdiest, most cynical wrestling fans into wide-eyed marks every year.

It represents the most surefire way for a midcard guy to break through the glass ceiling and become a top star. There are other matches that are similar in result, but lack the same appeal for some reason.

The Royal Rumble match’s high stakes—a world title shot at WrestleMania—make it unlikely that a surprise will happen. Lately, it’s been used as an easy way to get an already-established star back into the title picture.

No. 1 contender’s matches happen often, but rarely have any storyline build and aren’t necessarily used to promote a young star. The most recent one pitted 12-time world champ Randy Orton against rising stars Roman Reigns and Ryback. Orton won.

The Intercontinental Championship and the King of the Ring used to be a vehicle to get young midcard stars to the top, like Randy Savage’s 1986 IC title reign or Stone Cold Steve Austin’s 1996 KotR victory. Both of those have been diminished in recent years, in large part due to the emergence of the Money in the Bank contract.

More than any other gimmick meant to push wrestlers, the briefcase is basically a guarantee that the holder will become world champion, or at least be in a major storyline at some point within the next year (condolences to Damien Sandow). It’s allowed wrestlers like Edge, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Seth Rollins to claim their first world championship in WWE. The cash-ins are extremely memorable, and every year, fans look forward to seeing who the next big thing is.

It’s debatable whether Money in the Bank was the primary engine for the main event push for some of those guys. It definitely was for Edge, who at least co-main evented for the rest of his career after cashing in for the first time. RVD blew his chance when he got arrested for marijuana possession. Punk didn’t fully break through until 2011, three years after his first Money in the Bank win, but he was consistently in storylines for most of those three years. Bryan’s rise can be traced back to the fan reaction when he lost the world championship he had won by cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase. It’s too soon to tell with Rollins, but he’s still the champion and will be facing Brock Lesnar at Battleground, so he’s on the right track.

Regardless, those five wrestlers were not main event singles talents before grabbing the briefcase, and they were afterwards. They are exactly the kind of wrestlers smarks want to see holding the briefcase. They were all Internet darlings who fans wanted to see in main event storylines. In many fans’ eyes, those five wrestlers represent the ideal scenarios for Money in the Bank winners.

Sometimes the smark favorite wins the Money in the Bank match, but it doesn’t quite work out (i.e. Dolph Ziggler). Other times, the winner is just a dud (i.e. Jack Swagger).

It’s too early to tell for now, but unfortunately, the current Mr. Money in the Bank, Sheamus, appears to be more of a Real American than a Show-Off.

Sheamus won the WWE title twice in his first year on the main roster. He’s the only wrestler in history who won King of the Ring within 18 months of debuting that could consider it a step down on the card. While he spent a significant portion of his career in the midcard, he was also in the World Heavyweight title picture in every PPV of 2012.

Since then, he’s only had one world title match—the Eight-Man Ladder match at last year’s Money in the Bank event. In theory, it’s about time he should be back in the title picture.

However, Sheamus is not a very compelling character. As a heel, he’s your basic unstoppable monster. As a face, he’s pretty much the same, but with some more vulnerability and many more lame jokes. He doesn’t get a strong reaction from the fans.

His bland character actually diminishes his solid in-ring work—I’d put him above Bray Wyatt and Ryback, to name two. But I’d still rather see either of those two work a match than Sheamus. He’s just not interesting.

One could argue that’s a good thing for him, since he’s a heel. It is the Reality Era, after all. However, Seth Rollins is proving that a wrestler can be an excellent, exciting in-ring worker while still drawing legit heat from every crowd he works in front of.

The choice to make Sheamus Mr. Money in the Bank is especially head-scratching because Roman Reigns seemed such an obvious choice. The biggest problem with Reigns’ Royal Rumble win earlier this year was not that he wasn’t ready or that he was being shoved down our throats. The biggest problem was that there was no reason for him to feud with Lesnar beyond the fact that one had the title and the other had a title shot. Had Reigns and Lesnar had another reason to fight, the build would have been that much more interesting.

Lo and behold, the two men in the WWE title picture at the time of the Money in the Bank match were Rollins and Dean Ambrose. We now know that Lesnar was waiting in the wings. Reigns has feuds ready to go with all three of them. It would have made storyline sense for Reigns to win the briefcase.

A Reigns-Rollins-Ambrose-Lesnar storyline would have been great and would have carried the company at least until Lesnar went back to Minnesota for hunting season. Rollins vs. Lesnar is money, but we’re also getting a Reigns-Wyatt feud that’s coming just weeks after Reigns beat Wyatt despite interference from The Authority on Wyatt’s behalf. Ambrose, the hottest wrestler in the company, has nothing to do right now. And Sheamus, probably the person smarks least wanted to see holding the briefcase, is Mr. Money in the Bank.

Many fans put their hope in Kofi Kingston somehow winning. I am still upset Cody Rhodes or Cesaro didn’t get a shot. Those three wrestlers would all have represented the ideal Mr. Money in the Bank. All three have never been world champions and are great workers who have had numerous amazing matches. They need the briefcase to get into the main event. Sheamus doesn’t, but he’ll get there anyway. In the meantime, I’ll be waiting until the 2016 Money in the Bank match, when Sami Zayn or Finn Bálor will get my hopes up and then let me down.

Wrestledelphia.com columnist Evan Cross can be reached at . Follow him on Twitter at .