On the February 10 edition of Monday Night Raw, 2025 Royal Rumble winner “Main Event,” Jey Uso formally challenged WWE World Champion Gunther for his title in a putative WrestleMania main event.
Uso, who has previously lost to Gunther, received this late-career blessing by winning the Rumble a few weeks ago. He last eliminated presumptive, predictable favorite John Cena to take the prize and the shot at WrestleMania.
Jey’s main event journey is much longer than his current road to WrestleMania.
Given the WWE’s current roster depth, I have trouble seeing THIS as the match that headlines the world’s biggest wrestling promotions’ grandest show. Uso and Gunther are both great performers, just at different phases of the pro wrestling game.
Gunther’s smash mouth, old school heel style may not resonate with me, but he has consistently put on great in-ring performances since he joined the main roster. When paired with wrestlers who are similarly snug, like Sheamus or Drew McIntyre (or, two years ago, both) he puts on very entertaining matches. His character lacks dimension, which reduces my engagement as a fan. I enjoy watching Gunther execute his offence and beg off defense like an oversized cowardly heel, but he just hasn’t given me a reason to care whether he wins or loses. I wish he had a more defined finisher, but a key part of his “Ring General” character is the sheer number of ways he can beat his opponents. As a result, his matches feel a bit directionless (like old Larry Zbyszko battles) but I get that it adds a bit of unpredictability, which fans prefer (just ask Charlotte Flair after her own Rumble win how much fun predictability can be).
I find Jey’s singles success mystifying. Jey is a great tag team wrestler. Without the drama that comes either as a heel cutting off a hot tag or a babyface struggling to make said tag, I think his in-ring work is limited. His offence mostly consists of well-placed superkicks, a Samoan drop or two, a spear that looks sloppy next to the muscular versions employed by Roman Reigns, Goldberg, Lashley and countless other wrestlers, and an admittedly satisfying Superfly splash. Notwithstanding these relative limitations, Uso has become incredibly popular with the WWE audience. Last year, after current WWE champion Cody Rhodes and sure-fire Hall of Famers Roman Reigns and CM Punk, he moved the most merchandise on the roster. Fans sing along with his entrance music and take over the arena when he starts flapping his arms up and down, which I guess is WWE’s idea of “yeeting”. The actual definition of “yeet” is to throw something with force and without regard. It’s a term used to emphasize forcefulness and lack of concern for consequences, which has been expanded to convey excitement or enthusiasm — which must be what the 39-year-old Uso means when he adapts a term used by my 10 year old. If I tried doing it, it would be “cringe”, or an “oof”. Whatever I may think of this threat display, Uso engaged the whole arena in mass calisthenics through the first segment of RAW-something I haven’t seen on WWE TV since Daniel Bryan stole UFC fighter Diego Sanchez’ “Yes” chant and rode it to his own WrestleMania title victory.
In my view, neither Gunther nor Uso are the complete performer that Bryan was. For that matter, I don’t think either man is as well-rounded as the men Bryan beat for his “Yes! Movement” championship: Triple H, Batista or Randy Orton.
Uso and Gunther will have a fun match, and the crowd will be into it, but this feels like a main event only in the sense that WWE claims multiple mains on its biggest cards, like Seamus vs. Daniel Bryan or Edge vs. Chris Jericho going on early in the card, despite their own Royal Rumble main event’ status. Recent ‘Mania main events focused on “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s in-ring comeback and a tag team title match. The first WrestleMania was built around Mr. T. And a slavish adherence to “the World Championship goes on last” hurt Chris Jericho (him again!) and Triple H when they tried to follow Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock in Toronto.
Attempting to turn Jey Uso into a legitimate Main Eventer feels strange, especially given the glut of established talent at the top of the WWE roster. Picking up on the Royal Rumble, Jey outlasted a field that included multi-time world champions like Drew McIntyre (coming off his own Golden Schwartz winning year), Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, John Cena, CM Punk and Damien Priest. Former WWE champions like Rey Mysterio, Sheamus, AJ Styles, Finn Balor, Braun Strowman and The Miz all received thankless early to mid-match eliminations By my count, 12 Rumble entrants were former WWE/World/Universal champions. This number doesn’t consider the likes of LA Knight, Shinsuke Nakamura, Joe Hendry, Penta or Santos “King Cuerno” Escobar, all of whom have held (or, as in Hendry’s case, currently hold) other significant promotions’ major championships.
And this doesn’t count Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, or Gunther, who didn’t compete in the Rumble but have held down the WWE main event scene for most of the year.
With Rhodes’ challenger yet to be determined — though I think Cena is still the favored option, retirement tour and advanced age notwithstanding — the hottest storylines coming out of the Royal Rumble doesn’t involve any WWE titles. If WWE chooses, it can launch an epic three-way dance between Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Or it could split Punk off this program and have him work against Logan Paul (although that feels like a downgrade for Punk, who’s open campaign for a legitimate WrestleMania main event has become a key part of his character and more than a few shoot lawsuits). For that matter, if Cena is locked out of the title picture he could fight Paul. And I haven’t even mentioned The Rock, who may or may not be available.
Kevin Owens hasn’t held a singles title in WWE in almost a decade, but main evented back-to-back WrestleManias; carrying superannuated “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to a decent match, then beating the Usos in a memorable tag team match. Owens seems headed to renew his rivalry with Sami Zayn, although I’d rather see Zayn come to his senses after Owens dropped him on his head (in storyline and real life) and join Owens as a heel team — maybe even joining McIntyre and/or Rollins as a pack of fourth-wall breaking heels.
WWE has so many main event-capable wrestlers that the otherwise deserving pairing of McIntyre and Priest seem destined for the mid-card. This despite a ready-made long form storyline going back to Priest’s Money in the Bank theft of McIntyre’s title at last year’s WrestleMania. I think this is unfortunate; for the most part Mania seems to lack the kind of engaging stories that fueled back-to-back Rhodes vs. Reigns main events. McIntyre vs. Priest could be a sleeper match that ignites both men to a title filled feud. McIntyre is certainly up for it, and Priest should be more than a transitional champion.
In the meantime, as “Yeet” caught fire Jey’s solo showcase last year was a dud of a superkick party against brother Jimmy Uso.
Jey became “Main Event” way back in 2021, early in the Bloodline storyline. At WrestleMania 36 in 2020, Jimmy and Jey challenged for the SmackDown Tag Team titles. Jimmy suffered a knee injury that put him out of action for over a year. At WrestleMania 37, heel Jey won the pandemic-era Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. It could have been a throwaway win. For most winners the pre-WrestleMania battle royal has been a kiss of death (just ask past winners like Cesaro, Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, Madcap Moss, or Bobby Lashley). If Jey beats Gunther after winning the Rumble, maybe he breaks the Curse of Andre. If Jey beats Gunther after winning the Rumble, we get a nicely closed loop. Maybe he breaks the Curse of Andre.
When Jey won the Rumble I was incredulous. There are some pro wrestling acts I just don’t get. After all, Jey has been on the WWE main roster since 2010. He spent 13 years exclusively teaming with his brother. Jey broke away from Jimmy, Roman Reigns and the Bloodline in a protracted storyline during the Summer of 2023, culminating in a singles Tribal Combat loss to Reigns at SummerSlam. In September he moved to Raw as a solo act, quickly racking up a tag title alongside Cody Rhodes and a short Intercontinental title run to build Bron Breakker. Crowd engagement aside, there’s not much to suggest Jey’s run was foreseeable.
Maybe that’s unfair of me. While WWE has hotshot notable champions to the top of the card, including Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan, Diesel, Kurt Angle, and Brock Lesnar (all of whom won their first WWE championships within a year of their debuts), there are plenty of slow-burn stories.
In some cases, delayed main event runs are a combination of circumstance and character changes. Cena flailed as a generic good guy before turning heel with an obnoxious rap persona, then became a superhero. John Bradshaw Layfield morphed from a Stan Hansen redneck cowboy to a Blackjack wannabe to a crypto-Satanist to a mercenary before winning his first and only WWE championship as a bigmouthed Texas businessman. He started wrestling in 1992. JBL joined WWE in 1995 and won his first World Title nine years later, in 2004. Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw wouldn’t have recognized the version of himself that won the title.
WWE’s Attitude Era was anchored by the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mick “Mankind” Foley. Austin entered the WWE under a ‘wrestling first’ gimmick similar to Gunther’s. He was saddled with “The Ringmaster” moniker and a disinterested Ted DiBiase as his manager. Austin started wrestling in 1989. He joined the WWE in 1995 and lost his first WrestleMania match in 1996 to Savio Vega. A year later he fought Bret Hart in one of the all-time best Mania matches. He won his first WWE World championship at the following WrestleMania, nine years after his first match. Foley’s charismatic runs to three championships presaged Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston’s fan-service victories. Foley was a veteran hardcore wrestler who had worked just about everywhere in every kind of match. He started wrestling in 1985 and by the time he joined WWE his skills were likely on the decline from years of death match physical abuse. He won his first WWE Championship 13 years into his career.
While WWE will strap a rocket to their Chosen Superstar, many of their best champions grew organically. Bret Hart started wrestling in 1976. He was signed by WWE in 1984 and after a slow start where Vince McMahon wanted him to play a cowboy, was partnered with brother-in-law Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart through 1991. A mid-card singles push with the Intercontinental title followed through 1992. Hart won his first WWE World’s championship in October, 1992, eight years into his WWE career. It was a long, slow climb to the top for one of the greatest wrestlers ever.
Shawn Michaels debuted in Texas in 1984. He made it to WWE faster than Hart; he and Marty Jannetty were signed as the Rockers tag team in 1987, then fired, then rehired in 1988. The Rockers lasted four years, when Michaels infamously turned heel on Jannetty and superkicked him through a plate glass window. Michaels won his first Intercontinental championship that year, and his first WWE World Championship in 1996, beating Hart in an Iron Man match (I still think the overtime period was unfair). Michaels progressed from a tag team that failed to win a championship to solid mid-card heel to world champion in about nine years.
Come to think of it, WWE has nurtured plenty of journeymen into world champions. I mentioned Daniel Bryan earlier. He was signed by WWE in 2009, also briefly fired and rehired in 2010. Danielson was a 10-year veteran and former ROH World Champion, but then-WWE head Vince McMahon failed to see his appeal, other than as an undersized mid-card comedic fixture. He won the WWE World Championship in 2011 after a sympathetic storyline where he was abused by The Miz, but swiftly turned heel and was obliterated in the opening match of WrestleMania XXVII by Sheamus. Bryan bounced up and down the card for years, developing a more rounded character, until he struck gold with the Yes! Movement, an audience-participation led wave that convinced McMahon to change the build to WrestleMania and give Bryan his due.
WWE tried to replicate this formula with Kofi Kingston, who debuted in 2008 under an often-mocked Jamaican gimmick in WWE’s version of ECW. Kofi won the Intercontinental and United States Championships, along with a few tag team titles. He had a brief program where he challenged Randy Orton for Orton’s WWE championship. This program was derailed when Orton broke character mid match and berated Kingston for being unsafe. Kingston himself notes that his role in WWE was mostly “the happy guy who loses all the time”. In 2014, Kingston formed the New Day with Xavier Woods and Big E and took off as a legendary tag team. The New Day made Kofi a Hall of Famer, but in 2019 Kingston was positioned as a contender to a now-heel Bryan’s WWE Championship. Eleven years after his debut, Kingston won the title at WrestleMania 35 in another mid-card main event. Kingston lost the title six months later in a squash match to Brock Lesnar in the inaugural SmackDown broadcast on Fox.
For every era-defining champion like Hart, Michaels, Austin or Cena there are plenty of transitional champions like JBL, Foley or Kingston (it’s less fair to include old school journeymen like the Iron Sheik or Stan Stasiak; before WWE consolidated the US pro wrestling business most wrestlers spent years honing their craft across different territories).
If Uso beats Gunther, I see him in the latter role rather than the former; but that’s not a bad thing. NWA titlists like Tommy Rich, Kerry Von Erich, Dusty Rhodes or Ronnie Garvin will tell you a transitional championship is better than no championship at all.
Jey Uso looks to headline a WrestleMania loaded with an unprecedented number of stars. His ascension to this spot adds to an already packed field; a tribute to his persistence and perhaps the wisdom of the crowd. It also displaces other talent from their own presumptive main event slots.
Maybe John Cena needs to join the 2025 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
TOP PHOTO: Jey Uso after winning the 2025 Royal Rumble. WWE photo
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