Jey Uso dedicated his first World Heavyweight Championship match to his uncle Umaga. The former WWE wrestler died 14 years ago at an age where death shouldn’t be a thing.
When Michael Cole told us that, I predicted Jimmy Uso interfering. Blocking your little brother from attaining his dream so soon after stopping him from winning another championship? And doing it on the night your uncle died? That’s cartoon supervillain foul.
However, that didn’t happen. While I liked the match we got, I’m not feeling the ending. While it makes sense in totality, the execution left me cold.
Seth Rollins and Jey kept it respectful before and during the match. They truly made this a battle between two guys who want that championship more than anything else. While I never thought about Jey winning since CM Punk waits in the wings for Seth (still can’t believe that’s a sentence), they did an incredible job putting the champ in jeopardy. That not only showed how much Jey wanted the championship but Seth’s dedication to keeping it. With stakes this high and a story centered around oneupmanship, the match usually hinges on one person making a mistake. For a while during the third act, that looked like Seth.
Jey speared Seth multiple times, including one coming right out a Buckle Bomb. He also hit him with two Uso splashes, and a super kick. Jey unloaded everything and never put Seth down. From a meta standpoint, Seth’s performance rebutted Punk’s comments about no one in that locker room truly laying claim to “best in the world” status. He needed a match on Raw where he took tons of punishment and kept coming. He also needed a moment where he caught his challenger slipping and got the victory because he had the ball last.
But I don’t know if he needed that against Jey. Especially when the aforementioned Jimmy waits in the wings. Or Drew McIntyre, who, as you’ll read later, is on a vengeance warpath. They took column B but only after the match. Drew attacked Jey and got his hands on Seth only because Seth had Jey’s back. I say do that during the match. Let Drew interfere, protect Jey, and put an even bigger battery in his back for Drew. It also doesn’t make sense that Drew just let the match continue without ruining it for the guy he blames for all his misery.
Would Drew really sit back and watch Jey win the championship he covets in a match he believes Jey doesn’t even deserve? I find that dubious at best and inconsistent at worst. It’s that thing that happens in movies or television shows because the script says it happened rather than remaining true to the characters. On the flip side, Drew tossing Jey in his rearview so quickly never sat right with me, so this scratches that nagging itch.
This weird decision capped a fun night. Not the most meaningful night, but definitely a fun one. But even with fun, I want some character consistency.
Nightmares Ain’t As Bad
Anyone familiar with Hercules knows about the labors. And by Hercules, I mean the actual story, not the Disney movie. As a side, Disney’s Hercules is my favorite Disney flick of all-time! But I digress. Hercules toiled as part of his punishment for an unmentionable heinous act. Through those trials, he gained forgiveness and became legend.
I figured part of this thing with Sami Zayn &