(Writer’s Note: I don’t think anything I’m going to say here is actually going to happen. Sure, I might be calling for it to take place, but I would be stunned, with my jaw on the floor, if it did happen. I just wanted to make sure that was said before I continue.)
Jey Uso is the best wrestler in the world right now.
Soak that up for a moment.
When it comes to the complete package that a pro wrestler should be, Jey is at the very top of the list.
The Usos have placed themselves in the conversation of the best tag teams in wrestling history for a reason. The work that both Jey and Jimmy have put in through the years has been immense. Over the last few years, we’ve been able to see a new side of things with Jey, though, as he has been working a lot of singles matches. A lot of times, you’ll see a tag wrestler unsuccessfully try their hand at a singles run, maybe because they don’t have the stamina or the in-ring skill to carry 100% of the work, or maybe because there’s a mental block and they’re more comfortable with a partner, especially if that partner is a family member. We never had that issue with Jey. From the very start of this whole story with Roman Reigns, Jey looked like he had been doing this for his entire career, and he has only gotten better as time went on.
Do you like the promo aspect of the sport? Nobody in the business is as believable on the mic as Jey, and it’s because he understands how passion works. If he’s trying to be funny, it comes across as someone being themselves, and not someone reading a script that someone else wrote for them an hour earlier. When he’s in serious mode, it’s clear that he is pulling from a very real place in his heart and his soul. He can switch from scaring you to making you cry to making you laugh in a single promo, and that’s a quality that only the greatest of the great “talkers” possess.
What Jey has done a tremendous job of… and really, it’s a gold star for everyone involved in the Bloodline story, from Roman Reigns on down, as well as the people writing it behind the scenes… is build a connection with live crowds. We’ve been watching the journey that Roman, The Usos, Solo Sikoa, Sami Zayn, and others have been on, and we’re able to relate. Almost everyone has been in Jey’s shoes. Perhaps it wasn’t your cousin that was overstepping their boundaries. Maybe it was a boss, a co-worker, a teacher, a parent, a significant other, etc. It’s a different twist on what we’ve seen a thousand times in wrestling history… the power hungry “authority figure” and the “common man” who is trying to fight the “machine” to make changes. Simple, but effective. Wrestling Storytelling 101.
To continue the point of the previous paragraph, Jey has a stronger connection with live audiences than anyone in the sport right now. You could make the argument for CM Punk in Chicago, but that’s only in one place, while Jey is doing it in city after city, state after state, and country after country. Nobody… not Roman himself, not Cody Rhodes, not Sami Zayn, not Kenny Omega, not Bryan Danielson, not Will Ospreay, not Edge, not Jon Moxley, not MJF, not anyone else considered one of the top names in the industry today… is rallying the people behind them like Jey is.
So, now, here we are with SummerSlam right around the corner. Roman will be defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Jey in Tribal Combat, but on top of that, the match will determine who the true “Tribal Chief” of the Anoa’i family is. Jey has a ton of momentum, fresh off of pinning Roman in the main event of Money In The Bank, making him the first person to score a pinfall victory over Roman since Baron Corbin did it on December 15th, 2019 at the TLC pay-per-view.
What does WWE do here?
Almost every piece of “conventional logic” says that Roman isn’t going to drop the title unless it’s at WrestleMania, simply based on the epic length of his title reign and how important of a moment it will be when he finally drops the title.
I get that line of thinking. Shit, I’ve been a subscriber of its newsletter damn near from the start. If Roman didn’t drop the title to Jey at Hell In A Cell 2020, why would he drop it now? If Roman didn’t drop the title to Edge or Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 37, why would he drop it now? If Roman didn’t drop the title to John Cena at SummerSlam 2021, why would he drop it now? If Roman didn’t drop the title to Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel 2021, WrestleMania 38, or SummerSlam 2022, why would he drop it now? If Roman didn’t drop the title to Drew McIntyre at Clash At The Castle, why would he drop it now? If Roman didn’t drop the title to Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber 2023, why would he drop it now? If Roman didn’t drop the title to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, why would he drop it now?
Because this is the ultimate story. That’s why.
You can mention Cody Rhodes and his “finish the story” deal all you want. I like Cody, and I have been clear that I would love to see him win a World Title, but to even compare his “story” with Jey’s “story” is asinine. Cody made his WWE return 16 months ago. He was put on the shelf with a torn pectoral muscle 14 months ago, and made his return from that injury six months ago. Cody would then spend two months locked in a story with Roman Reigns, but has now been involved in a story with Brock Lesnar for the last four months. In this one story alone, Jey has been involved with Roman for damn near three full calendar years now, and that doesn’t count being involved with Roman in one way or another going back to Roman’s main roster debut with The Shield, and THAT doesn’t count the fact that they grew up together more like brothers than the cousins they are.
Everything involving The Bloodline since 2020 has equaled the single greatest storyline in wrestling history. Not the greatest storyline of the last few years, of this era, or in WWE history.
Ever.
Anywhere.
In any promotion.
In any era.
While Roman has obviously been the face of the storyline, front and center from the start, Jey Uso has been the heart and soul of the entire thing.
Again… what does WWE do here?
Could they pull the trigger on a title change at SummerSlam?
Should they pull the trigger on a title change at SummerSlam?
WWE, above all else, is a company that is all about creating a “moment.” Well… at SummerSlam, the company’s second-biggest show of the year, in front of nearly 50,000 fans at Detroit’s Ford Field, there aren’t many bigger moments that can be made than Jey Uso putting an end to Roman Reigns’ 1,070-day reign atop the WWE mountain. The pop that a three-count will receive could be as loud and as thunderous as anything we’ve heard in a long, long time. Jey will be in tears. Jimmy will be in tears. Roman will be in tears. Solo will be in tears. Heyman will be in tears. I will be in tears.
It’s time. We might not have guessed that it would be the time, here and now, but it’s time. An all-time great moment is right there at our fingertips.
What say you? The question is two-fold, really… do you think we will see Jey Uso dethrone his cousin at SummerSlam, and is that the outcome you want to see? As always, you can hit me up in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), not the stupid ass new name that the app’s stupid ass owner is trying to push on everyone, and let me know what’s on your mind.
Weekly Power Rankings
Carmelo Hayes vs Ilja Dragunov: An absolute masterpiece that is going to be mentioned a lot at the end of the year. Both men got to play different roles, and they excelled. Melo got to square off with someone who doesn’t work the “normal” NXT style, and who kept him as grounded as possible, forcing him to try different things of his own. Dragunov is usually smaller than his opponents, so having him face a high-flying worker like Melo, who is listed as the same size, allowed him to use more of a bullying style than usual. Put that together, and they made magic. Great, great stuff.
FTR vs MJF & Adam Cole: The current story with MJF and Cole started off in a weird fashion, and I’m not sure many people thought it would even last this long, but here we are… and it has become one of the most over acts going today. The “odd couple” pairing has often done well in wrestling, even if it doesn’t last long, so we’ll see how long these two can be buddies before one breaks the other’s heart.
Andrade El Idolo vs Buddy Matthews: These two are insane. It’s as simple as that, really. A wild ladder affair with bumps that had to make both men cry when they woke up the next morning. What else could you want from that type of bout as a fan and a viewer?
Lyra Valkyria vs Rhea Ripley: I think it has become pretty clear that Shawn Michaels is a big fan of Valkyria. He seemed to be a huge fan of Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, but with them off to the main roster, ol’ HBK needed someone new in his life. She impressed the hell out of me here, hanging with the current Women’s World Champion and looking great in the process. Expect big things from her in her future with NXT.
Orange Cassidy vs AR Fox: The only thing holding this back from a higher ranking is that the outcome was a foregone conclusion. I like Fox, but nobody thought he was going to win this match. Even with the story being that all of OC’s title defenses are wearing him down, we knew the title wasn’t going to change hands here. Fox worked his ass off, though, and the post-match and later-in-the-show stuff with his heel turn could hopefully allow him to make a move up the proverbial ladder in AEW. He deserves it.
Lucha Brothers vs Best Friends vs Blackpool Combat Club: I said something similar about the RoH Tag Team Title match at Death Before Dishonor, but Best Friends (and The Kingdom at DBD) weren’t needed here. I’m a fan of both Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta, but this would’ve been a much better match with just Penta, Fenix, Mox, and Claudio.
Darby Allin vs Minoru Suzuki: AEW sure does like having wrestlers from New Japan show up on its programming. They also like having said talent lose more often than not. Just an observation. If Darby is crazy enough to take the ass kickings that he takes, there aren’t many better opponents for him to face than Suzuki, who has never met another human being that he didn’t want to put in a hospital. I would say that this match should’ve been a bit longer, but that’s just cruel and unusual punishment for Darby.
Darby Allin vs Swerve Strickland: Big week for the New Age Jeff Hardy. However, the most important thing about this match is that Swerve won. The man hasn’t won enough singles matches in AEW, but this was his second straight singles victory, which marks his longest streak as a singles competitor since he finished 2022 and started 2023 with six straight wins. Like I said about AR Fox, he deserves bigger and better things, and hopefully this is a sign that those things are coming.
Tiffany Stratton vs Thea Hail: There are a lot of really young women on the NXT roster. Stratton is 24, and she’s almost elderly compared to Hail being 19, Roxanne Perez being 21, Cora Jade being 22, Ava being 21, and so on. The future can be really, really bright for the women’s division in NXT (and perhaps on Raw and Smackdown down the road) if the injury bug doesn’t keep striking them down like it has recently.
Dominik Mysterio vs Wes Lee vs Mustafa Ali: Like I said in my review column, all three of them (and Rhea Ripley on the outside) played their roles to perfection, and the match was put together very well, allowing them all to look great at what they do best.
Roxanne Perez vs Blair Davenport: This feud has really allowed Roxanne to show a side of her character that had really been lacking previously, and that should only benefit her from now on. She’s still super young, and is still this tiny, petite thing, but she did a good job in this WWE-style hardcore brawling match, and is now more well-rounded and better off as she tries to get back into the NXT Women’s Title picture. Let’s be real, though… the real star here was Roxanne’s younger sister, who was in the front row for the match. She was very emotional watching her big sister get beaten up in front of her, as well as when Davenport talked trash to her. It was very reminiscent of when Sasha Banks made Izzy cry at NXT Takeover: Respect in 2015.
Jey Uso vs Grayson Waller: Since debuting on Smackdown, Waller has pretty much done nothing but rub elbows with some of WWE’s top talent, even if he takes losses while doing so. Now, there are teases of a match/segment with Waller and The Rock, of all people. He could be doing big things in the future.
Rey Mysterio vs Santos Escobar: It’s a shame that Rey got hurt, as the match was really starting to pick up steam. Escobar is a really good choice to earn a United States Title shot, though, because he is one of the better performers in WWE and should be treated as such.
Tommaso Ciampa vs Bronson Reed: Half of us are waiting for Ciampa and Johnny Gargano to reunite and have DIY hit the tag division running. The other half of us are sick and tired of seeing those two have their careers intertwined, and are simply looking to see Ciampa and/or Gargano get main roster singles pushes. Which group are you in?
Becky Lynch vs Zoey Stark: I’m not sure Zoey Stark will ever get the credit she deserves, but she continues to shine as an in-ring performer. Quietly, she continues to rack up solid performances, no matter who she’s in the ring with, and that goes way back to her early NXT days. If she was stronger on the mic, we might be talking about her as one of the top women in the business right now.
Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams & Ilja Dragunov vs The Schism: I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be funny that Brutus and Julius Creed lost a “Loser Leaves NXT” match and then proceeded to (apparently) stick around as masked Schism followers who are torturing Joe Gacy and his crew, but it has been funny. Pointless, and not doing the Creeds much good, but funny.
Drew McIntyre vs Ludwig Kaiser: Gunther has been booked as a seemingly unbeatable and unstoppable monster. Meanwhile, Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci haven’t won a match since 1987. Weird group, that Imperium.
Hikaru Shida vs Nyla Rose: Shida has been on fire recently, and she has a push to go with it. I’m all for it. The women’s division in AEW has been in a weird spot recently, so getting Shida back around the top of the division would really behoove the company, as a whole.
The Family: The match itself just missed making the list here, but congratulations go out to the brand new NXT Tag Team Champions. The boys of Gallus were having good matches, but there was a serious lack of a connection with live crowds. This title switch should help that, as Tony D’Angelo and “Stacks” Lorenzo continue to be one of NXT’s most popular acts.
Continued Teasing Of Something With Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits: A new Hurt Business? An improved Hurt Business? The vehicle that will finally see a heel turn for either Montez Ford or Angelo Dawkins? Who knows? It’s intriguing to watch, though.
This Week’s Playlist: “Skelz” by That Mexican OT… “Johnny Dang” by That Mexican OT, Paul Wall & DRODi… “Opp Or 2” by That Mexican OT & Maxi Kream… “Hit List” by That Mexican OT, BigXthaPlug & Big Yavo… “Barrio” by That Mexican OT & Lefty Sm… “JEALOUSY” by Offset & Cardi B… “Woppenheimer” by Gucci Mane… “BLOOD ON MY NIKEZ” by Denzel Curry & Juicy J… “Nightmare” by From Ashes To New… “Monster In Me” by From Ashes To New… “I Might Let The Devil Win” by Sevendust… “DREAMKILLER” by Signs of the Swarm… “What We’ll Never Be” by ACCVSED… “Poppin’ My Collar” by Three 6 Mafia & Project Pat… “Homies & Thugs” by Scarface, 2Pac & Master P… “Meal Ticket” by Master P, UGK, 8Ball & MJG… “Situation On Dirty” by Brotha Lynch Hung… “Come On” by E-40 & B-Legit… “How Ya Do Dat” by Young Bleed, Master P & C-Loc… “Murder Murder” by Ghetto Twiinz