RADICAN’S TAKE: Jey Uso’s ascent to the top of WWE should come sooner than later

By Sean Radican, PWTorch columnist (X: @SR_Torch)

Jey Uso (photo credit WWE Twitter)

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Waiting for Jey Uso to get his chance to shine is making me impatient, but the beauty of his character and push is that despite any setbacks, he stays over in a big way with fans. Is he over at the fever pitch levels he was earlier this year lately? No, but he still gets a big reaction steadily anchoring the second tier of wrestlers on Raw.

Jey staying over and putting over different wrestlers as they ascend up the card without his character losing steam is an extremely valuable asset for WWE. Headline SummerSlam 2023 against Roman Reigns and put on an incredible match and fall short to tell a larger part of the overarching story with your character? No Problem. Put over Walter? No problem. Cut a red hot promo on Bron Breakker to heat up their IC Championship match next week on Raw? No problem.

Jey can do it all as a babyface and ever since the start of The Bloodline storyline, I’ve been waiting for him to have his own breakthrough moment and win a top title in WWE. He’s grown so much as a performer since wrestling Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship twice before falling by his side to join The Bloodline.

What is it that makes Jey so likable? He has the “yeet” catchphrase that connects him to the younger demographic. Jey also has multiple versions of his entrance that make him coming to the ring at times seem like a bigger deal than the actual match. We’ve seen Jey make his way to the ring from backstage.

We have also seen him start in the crowd and stand side by side with the fans to pump them up as he waves his arms up and down with the “yeet” chants. It’s hard not to like Jey once you experience his entrance. He also has the eye of Rhea Ripley lately teaming with her and Damine Priest to help them during their feud against The Judgement Day.

The way WWE storylines are lining up, it doesn’t seem like it will be Jey’s time to capture one of WWE’s two major championships anytime soon. It is likely he will be part of Roman Reigns’s team at Survivor Series with Roman challenging Solo Silkoa’s version of The Bloodline in a War Games match. It also seems like another Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns match will happen after that match takes place.

What happens after that? The future is a bit murky. What I do know is that watching Jey transition from being one half of one of the best tag teams in the world with his brother Jimmy Uso as The Usos to red hot singles babyface has been an incredible journey.

From Jey’s first big main event singles matches against Roman Reigns that really helped launch The Bloodline storyline in the fall of 2020 where I saw the star potential in just how dramatic his facial expressions and mannerisms came off to his current run on Raw propping up new talent as they ascend up the ladder, it has been fun to watch Jey blossom into a true star.

He’s earned the moniker “Main Event Jey Uso” with his big match performances, but those only go so far in terms of how long WWE can get away with Jey always falling short when the stakes are the highest and fans lose their belief in his character.

Hopefully one of the two nights of WrestleMania 41 next year is dedicated to Jey finally getting his big moment and Triple H gives him the ball to run with one of WWE’s two major championships. I’ve wanted to see it since 2020, so I can wait another eight months.

Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on X @SR_Torch

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