Should Jey Uso be the one to dethrone Roman Reigns?

Ryan Satin

FOX Sports WWE Analyst

Jey Uso stands at the center of what many are calling the greatest story in WWE history, but one big question looms over it all: Should “The Right Hand Man” end Roman Reigns 1000-day run as champ?

For me, the answer is yes.

Allow me to explain.

The Bloodline saga began in October 2020 at Hell in a Cell, when Roman Reigns forced Jey Uso to quit. This wasn’t the usual tap out, though. Jey quit the match in an effort to save his brother Jimmy Uso from being choked out further.

This emotional moment would become a key component in cementing Reigns’ new run as champ. The Tribal Chief was willing to do anything to keep his title — even hurt his own family.

This is why The Usos ultimately fell in line by “acknowledging” their cousin as the “The Head of the Table,” and for nearly two years, the group dominated WWE.

Then, Sami Zayn entered the picture.

Zayn, at that point, was hated by the rest of the roster (in storyline). He had nowhere left to go and ultimately looked for refuge inside the most disliked group in WWE. Everyone in The Bloodline slowly began to accept his presence after, except for Jey.

Jey’s gruff nature appeared to be the reason for this disconnect, but as time went on, it became clear something deeper was at play. Jey saw a piece of himself in Sami and the pushback seemed to be for Zayn’s own benefit.

It was almost like Jey’s character knew Sami would be forced to make a sacrifice of great proportions one day, much like Jey at Hell in a Cell in 2020, and he didn’t want the “Honorary Uce” to be put in that position.

But that’s exactly what happened.

Sami’s popularity began to soar after joining The Bloodline, and at the Royal Rumble, Roman attempted to assert his dominance over Zayn by forcing him to attack Kevin Owens with a chair. KO is the closest thing Sami has to a brother, though, so he refused and turned on The Tribal Chief.

Jey Uso was conflicted on how to react.

His character seemed to realize at the moment that attacking Roman is what he himself should’ve done in 2020 when Reigns attacked his brother. Instead, however, Jey let himself be controlled, and now he was stuck.

This led to Sami and Kevin defeating the Usos at WrestleMania for the tag team titles in the main event of Night 1 and falling out of favor in The Bloodline.

Jimmy then turned on Roman at Night of Champions with the superkick heard round the world and Jey Uso followed suit on SmackDown last week.

Jey Uso ends The Bloodline

Jey Uso shocked the WWE Universe on Friday Night SmackDown when he finally made his decision, ending The Bloodline as we know it.

Now we’re in the middle of a “Bloodline Civil War” on TV that is set to culminate in a tag match next month at Night of Champions.

So, why do I think Jey should be the one to dethrone Roman Reigns? It’s simple. At the start, this story seemed to be what was cementing The Tribal Chief’s legacy as world champion. A man so diabolical he’d destroy the mental and physical well-being of his own family in order to protect his run.

But as over 1000 days have passed with him as champion, to me, it seems like we had the wrong idea. This story wasn’t just Roman’s story. It was Roman and Jey’s story.

Jey Uso is the one man who could’ve defeated Roman before the reign of dominance began, but instead chose to protect his family. And when you look at it that way, Jey Uso has been the actual antithesis to Roman this whole time.

The story has been set up for Jey’s crowning moment since the start.

I might have been firm in my belief that Cody Rhodes should’ve ended Roman’s title run at WrestleMania this year, but since it didn’t happen, I don’t see how this Roman Reigns story can end any other way.

Jey is the rightful heir to the Head of the Table.

He just needs to take that seat from Roman Reigns first.

Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1’s “WWE Backstage” and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief. Follow him on Twitter @RyanSatin.