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During this week's WWE RAW, Shane McMahon made his surprise return to announce the competitors for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. Drew McIntyre will defend his title against AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Sheamus, and The Miz.
While many had expected The Scottish Psychopath to collide with Sheamus in a singles bout after The Celtic Warrior had betrayed him on the previous week's episode, things took a slightly different turn.
Though the match is bound to be tremendous, considering the level of talent involved, McIntyre could possibly lose his title in a multi-man situation at Elimination Chamber. It could be the most competitive challenge of his career, and the probability of him walking out as the Champion has reduced drastically.
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With that in mind, Sheamus walking out as the WWE Champion is also a possibility. The Celtic Warrior has been away from the main event scene for quite a long time now, and a win here will catapult him to the top of the card.
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Here in this slideshow, we will look at five reasons why Sheamus should walk out of the Elimination Chamber as a five-time World Champion. Do share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
#5 Sheamus should win the WWE Championship as a reward for his string of memorable performances in 2020
While the pandemic forced WWE to change a lot of their plans, the same turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Sheamus as he found himself climbing up the pecking order in WWE after a very long time. Firstly, his rivalries with Jeff Hardy and Big E on SmackDown produced a few highly-entertaining matches, and then his move to RAW led to his association with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. In the midst, he also had a couple of bangers against Riddle and Keith Lee.
For someone who had been languishing in the tag team division for so long, The Celtic Warrior has finally found himself in the main event program thanks to his eventual heel turn against McIntyre last week. WWE must capitalize on the momentum and crown him as the new WWE Champion at Elimination Chamber 2020. It will not only be a deserving victory for Sheamus, but it would also indicate that hardworking talents are rewarded in the modern WWE landscape.
#4 Sheamus winning the WWE Championship can make his feud with Drew McIntyre more intriguing
A babyface winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania after a hard-fought chase is always more satisfying than him going into the pay-per-view as a Champion and walking out after retaining the gold. It creates more audience involvement, and the viewers have a reason to care about the outcome.
Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time, but it must be noted that he always had relatively shorter reigns with the WWE Championship. The fans cared about him because he was always chasing the title and fought the obstacles put in front of him by Vince McMahon.
Similarly, if Sheamus wins the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber, and Drew McIntyre chases the Championship all the way into WrestleMania, McIntyre's victory at The Show of Shows will be much more emotionally satisfying than McIntyre retaining his title at the same event.
There is a considerable gap between Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, and WWE can craft a compelling story around McIntyre finding his way into the Championship picture after defeating several Superstars and beating the odds stacked against him.
#3 Sheamus winning the WWE Championship can slightly help in increasing the television ratings for WWE RAW
Sheamus isn't Goldberg or Brock Lesnar, but the WWE championship changing hands will surely bring a lot of eyeballs to the product.
Going into WrestleMania 37, WWE needs to increase their RAW viewership, which has been hovering below the two million number for a very long time now. WrestleMania is the biggest WWE show of the year, and the company would certainly want the television ratings to improve as the event approaches closer.
The pandemic resulted in several fans tuning out of wrestling shows, and they might just come back if a title change happens on the Road to WrestleMania 37. The fact that WrestleMania 37 will have fans in attendance can also help in increasing the ratings. With Edge seemingly heading into a feud with Roman Reigns on SmackDown, WWE RAW would need a compelling program to be deemed essential viewing.
Not that Drew McIntyre isn't a draw, but Sheamus as the Champion can provide the opportunity to create more newsworthy television with several segments hyping up McIntyre's coronation in front of a live crowd.
#2 Drew McIntyre deserves to win the WWE Championship in front of a sizable crowd
When Drew McIntyre won the Men's Royal Rumble match at WWE Royal Rumble 2020, the reaction he received from the fans was euphoric. The win was termed as a genuine star-making move by WWE, and the fans were waiting with bated breath to see The Scottish Psychopath defeat Brock Lesnar in front of a packed crowd.
As it turned out, the pandemic changed the entire landscape of pro-wrestling, and McIntyre instead won the WWE Championship at the Performance Center with no fans in attendance to celebrate. It was a bittersweet moment for the newly crowned champion, and though he received adoration online, it couldn't replace the impact the moment would have created if a crowd was present to cheer him.
Now that the crowds are back for WrestleMania 37, WWE must give McIntyre the moment he sorely missed last year around. While retaining his WWE Championship isn't a bad thing per se, reclaiming the title would elicit a much more emotional response from the audience.
Therefore, it makes sense to crown Sheamus as the new WWE Champion at Elimination Chamber so that he can drop the title back to McIntyre at The Grandest Stage of Them All.
#1 Sheamus is the most likely candidate to win among all the other challengers at WWE Elimination Chamber
The point of Sheamus being the next most likely WWE Champion is valid only if WWE has already made up their minds on taking the title off Drew McIntyre.
If so, the only person who can viably walk out of the chamber as the new WWE Champion is Sheamus. Randy Orton is embroiled in a feud with The Fiend and Alexa Bliss that will possibly continue at least until WrestleMania 37.
On the other hand, as great as AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy are, one can't possibly imagine them walking out as the WWE Champion due to their lack of direction on Monday Night RAW. As for The Miz, though he holds the MITB contract, he's not someone who should be anywhere close to the WWE Championship picture at the moment due to his current positioning on the card.
Sheamus is also involved in a deeply personal rivalry with McIntyre right now, so it makes sense for him to win the title and then defend it against The Scottish Warrio at WrestleMania 37.
