The Rumble is worth something? Tbh, it's the PPV I dread the most...
The Rumble is indicative of who the WWE plans to push going into Wrestlemania, so in that respect it's probably the second most important PPV of the year, with Summerslam coming in third. Survivor Series is a distant fourth, although it should probably be more important than it is given its placement as the final major PPV before the Rumble.
I think this would be a perfect time to have sheamus get the title
There is no perfect time for Sheamus to get the title. If they want a heel to have it, either give it to Owens or have Ambrose or Reigns join the Authority.
Giving Sheamus the briefcase in the first place was a huge mistake for the WWE. They really should have given it to Ambrose. I know he wasn't in the match, but he would have been the perfect choice. He's young, totally over with the crowd, above average on the mic, and a good worker (not on the level of Rollins, Owens, or Cesaro, but he's solid). Honestly, even Reigns would have been a better choice. He wasn't ready during that PPV after crashing and burning during the Rumble and Mania, but the WWE was obviously going to push him anyway sometime during the next year. Why not give him the briefcase, work on getting him over for the next six to eight months, and then have him cash in and win?
Sheamus, to me, represents the old guard. He's a guy they tried to push and failed. That may not be entirely his fault, but other guys have since passed him, and thus giving him the briefcase was a bad decision. The MitB briefcase, in my opinion, should always go to a young guy that deserves a main event push sometime in the next year. That match should be a battle of the young and hungry, plus Kofi because he we know he's not winning but he always has a couple of good spots in him.
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Dean Ambrose basically represents the problem with the modern WWE. He got over based on the strength of his matches (again, not the best in-ring guy in the company, but you can depend on him for *** and better affairs...he's like Tyler Breeze in that regard, only he jobs less) and his solid promo skills. He was exactly the type of guy that would have gotten pushed in the Attitude Era because the powers that be saw the writing on the wall. The fans chose him, and so the WWE would push him.
But instead, Vince decided that Roman Reigns was going to be the next big face, and fuck the fans if they disagree. Vince no longer cares about what the fans want. He only cares about what he wants to see, and he forces that vision on us regardless. The only time he takes notice of the fans if during the Rumble and Wrestlemania, because those are the two PPVs watched by the most people, and closing either with a sea of boos makes the company look bad. Beyond that, he gives less than a fuck about the fans, and that's why the ratings are tanking.
Your job, as an entertainment company, is to give the fans what they want...not what you want. Sometimes those things overlap, and sometimes you have to go another direction to subvert expectations, but the problem with the WWE is that they basically don't give a shit what the fans want, and Dean Ambrose basically embodies that. There's no reason that he shouldn't have won the title in the past year, and it's insane that he got demoted from the main event picture to be Reigns' sidekick for the past four months.
