The Road to WrestleMania has commenced, andWWEhas its maleRoyal Rumblewinner waiting in the wings. In what is being referred to as the biggest upset in Royal Rumble history,Jey Uso won the 2025 Royal Rumble. He is now projected to face Gunther at WrestleMania 41, putting him in a position that most viewers didn’t expect, but given his popularity, can be justified.
On paper, Jey Uso is the most unexpectedly popular WWE Superstar on the main roster, so he should have always been a surefire pick to win theRoyal Rumble. However, the keyword there is “unexpected.” An even more appropriate synonym may even be “unplanned.” WWE has a history and a track record of denying popular wrestlers access to the promised land because they were never planned to be there, in spite of their popularity.
It’s an unfortunate trend that has seen superstars such as Zack Ryder, Rusev, Bad News Barrett and Cesaro kept away from the biggest spotlight, but one that may finally be broken by Jey Uso. In analyzing this trend, it must be decipheredwhy Jey is the exception.
WWE’s Trend of Not Pushing Wrestlers Who Got Over Organically
A Lot of Missed Opportunities for Super Stardom
In professional wrestling, WWE especially, winning over the fans and boosting merch sales should be a surefire means of launching into the main event picture. After all, it worked for Stone Cold Steve Austin. His fate was sealed the moment he won the King of the Ring tournament, andmoments later, coined Austin 3:16. However, while WWE didn’t expect Austin to reach the superstardom he eventually did, there werealways plans for him to be a main eventer. His King of the Ring win was meant to be a launching pad toward the main event. It just made it easier to ensure his status once the audience became infatuated with The Rattlesnake.
Stone Cold Steve Austin’s iconic “Austin 3:16” line and promo were improvised. The promo quote, “Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your a**,” instantly sparked fan signs, successful T-Shirts, and decades' worth of popularity.
Organic reactions are essential to a WWE Superstar’s success, but usually, it’s helpful for “the machine” to already be behind the Superstar who naturally gets over. Otherwise, fans witness a frustrating dissonance between what they think a superstar deserves and what is actually given to them in terms of spotlight and opportunities.
There are many examples from recent history of this unfortunate habit.Zack Ryder’s 2011-12 internet famewas reflected in crowds cheering his name even when he wasn’t onscreen.The heel Bad News Barrettcharacter was adored.Fandango’s literal song and dance were infectious. Meanwhile, Cesaro had his own Section, andRusev Day could’ve been a national holidayfor his overwhelming reactions during that stint in his career.
These are all examples of unexpected midcard acts getting surprising main event reactions. Yet, none of them reached the main event at the height of their popularity. In some cases, many of them werepractically punished for getting themselves over. In Zack Ryder’s case, he suddenly found himself humiliated every week, notably by getting attacked by Kane and losing his onscreen lover Eva Marie to John Cena. Wade Barrett was forced to drop his Bad News character, going from getting subverted babyface reactions to getting virtually no reactions.
In other cases, with the likes of Cesaro, Rusev, and Fandango, the punishment wasn’t as outright overt, but they would find themselves losing matches every single week, asWWE failed to capitalize on their success. It was as if then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon punished these Superstars for forcing him to change his storyline plans to cater to a new fan-favorite, or worse, hoped that the fan-favorite’s popularity would cool down once booked in moments and matches that would diminish their interest. Some would rank this amongVince’s worst business practices.
Jey Uso’s Push Reflects a New Regime in Full Effect for WWE
Jey Uso’s Rise Is an Example of WWE Listening to the Fans
That being said, there have been chances of superstars who got organically over with the public being given a main event run, most famously with Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. However, both cases were short-lived and seemed a concession more than a business decision. Still, creative practices have definitively changed since Paul “Triple H” Levesque became the Chief Content Officer for WWE ahead of the start of the Netflix Era.
In the midst of all this,Jey Uso naturally got over on his own merit. The rise of Jey Uso has steadily been in the making since the younger half of The Usos quietly kickstarted a singles career in 2020 in light of an injury for Jimmy. He became “main event Jey Uso” and was an integral part of the Bloodline story, getting great reactions even after “betraying” his family and challenging Roman Reigns.
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Then, suddenly, one slightly inebriated post-PLE press conferencechanged Jey’s career trajectory forever. In due time,“YEET” became a regular catchphrasefor Jey, garnering the loudest and most consistent crowd reactions every week, and contributing to Jey Uso becoming one of WWE’s top merch sellers. Jey consistently gets the biggest reactions in every arena he goes to, and his entrances are so over they have become basically an attraction forMonday Night Raw.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the exact story of the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin - one quote of improv turned into a T-shirt, turned into immense merch sales, turned into consistent positive reactions, turned into a Royal Rumble win, turned into a title win in the main event of WrestleMania.
Why Jey Uso Is the Exception
The HHH Regime Saved Him
While not everyone will agree that Jey Uso’s in-ring or promo ability is on the same level as Stone Cold,the career parallels are there. With the crowd on his side and merch sales continuing to skyrocket, his ceiling could be as high as Stone Cold, especially if his final chapter issealed with a World Heavyweight Championship winover Gunther in the main event of WrestleMania 41. Their biggest difference is that Stone Cold Steve Austin’s victory at King of the Ring was a gamble that could have gone either way, while Jey’s story has been told on TV for the past five years.
While it’s true that Jey truly got over only recently after the YEET! catchphrase took fire, it’s impossible not to see that he has been primed for a main event spot for years. Many times, it seemed thatthe Bloodline story was truly Jey Uso’s story, and that he would play the role of the successor to Roman’s empire. While Solo kind of took over that role, fans still witnessed Jey’s journey from tag team wrestler to Roman’s rival to established singles star for years.
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Now that the Royal Rumble has concluded, where is WWE headed? What are some possible WrestleMania main events?
Truth be told, there’s a chance that Triple H never even imagined Jey Uso as a main event Superstar, but he is more willing to let the crowd reactions answer that hypothesis andlean into it for booking plans. Unlike the past regime ofWWE creative, Triple H is more willing to lean into what the fans want, and right now, the fans wantJey Uso.
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is a global entertainment company primarily known for professional wrestling. Founded in 1953, it produces live events, television programs, and streaming content. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, WWE operates multiple brands, including Raw, SmackDown, and NXT.
