Jey Uso ticked a moment off his wrestling bucket list at WrestleMania this year when he faced off against brother and former tag team partner Jimmy.
The Usos have been staple pieces of WWE for a number of years now, but a feud started when Jimmy turned on his brother late last year at SummerSlam, costing him his world title match against Roman Reigns.
The clash culminated in a match at this year’s ‘Mania, with Jey coming out on top in what was a relatively short match that many argued fell below expectations.
Since then, Jimmy has been mostly absent from TV through injury while Jey continues to thrive as a singles star, though what the future holds for both men is unclear, with a potential reunion on the cards.
Speaking exclusively to Mail Sport’s Alex McCarthy, Jey outlined his feelings on the WrestleMania match, addressing the criticism, before opening up on the main event of night two that saw Reigns lose to Cody Rhodes on the back of a plethora of stars interfering, including the Usos.
Jey Uso has opened up on the criticism around his WrestleMania match with his brother Jimmy
The star has flourished as a singles performer but revealed time constraints impacted the match
Uso revealed the bout was a ‘dream match’, with the star also involved in the night two main event
Alex McCarthy: Let’s talk WrestleMania, because we’re a couple weeks removed now. Last time we spoke, you were saying about the dreams you had for yourself and Jimmy… how does it sit with you for what you dreamed versus what played out?
Jey Uso: To be honest, it was still a dream match, just me and my brother. I kind of felt I kind of let the people down, though. It was all due to timing issues, so our match was fairly quick. Sometimes you’ve just got to roll with it. It is what it is.
I just try to look at the positive part. We checked that box off, me and Jimmy, for sure. Man, That’s the only thing, I wish, I wish we could have had a straight up wrestling banger. Sometimes matches run heavy, especially those big shows like that, you’ve just got to roll with the punches. There’s no heat, you can’t get hot at the other matches, everyone’s trying to go out there and do their thing, and it was all love at the end. I’m just glad we got that shot with with me and my brother in there, in a WrestleMania environment.
AM: Was there any idea to have your dad involved?
JU: Hell yeah, I always wanted my dad involved, whether it be a referee… I just don’t think my dad could have kept up, just getting up and down, because referees, they’re doing like, push up burpees the whole match too, they’re getting a great workout.
Maybe like a go home promo, just some kind of cool promo segment. There might be another time for it.
AM: Between the split to when the mania match happens, it’s quite a gap. Do you think that played a role in anything for people’s perception of the rivalry?
JU: It is what it what it is. I wish we could have put more time in, maybe mine and Jimmy’s angle. It gets so crazy, uh, especially around that ‘Mania season, especially with the big angle with The Rock coming back, Rock and Cody. That was great. Because everyone saw the angle change right in front of them, they literally were listening to the people, like the we want Cody chants. And I really liked how we just adapted to it, and WWE just switching on the dime like that.
Really listening to the fans, that was the first eye opener for me. Like, oh, OK, we are really rolling with the punches here. So that’s what we’ve got to do, just keep rolling it and make sure you’re ready.
The Usos had come to blows when Jimmy cost Jey his title match against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam
Jey revealed he had wanted to get the brothers’ father, Hall of Famer Rikishi, involved
He opened up on his success as a singles performer since breaking away from The Bloodline
AM: Mondays, you have a main event Jey Uso. It isn’t just a name. Yeet, worked out, right? Was there any trepidation originally, when you come away from your brother and to arrive where you are now, does that exceed what your expectations were?
JU: If you watched the press conference with Cody, that’s where it got over I felt like. I’ve always been a tag team guy, always just doing my brother. So we always had each other to lean on. I’m now being on my own, trying to fly on my own, and then seeing how the people got behind me, or accepted me. They got the yeet, hey got with everything, the hand thing – I don’t know what that is – the theme song. I knew I wanted to keep day one ish, because, people were singing that. And it came from London, Money in the Bank, civil war. That’s the first time I heard them sing it.
I wanted to keep that, but back to the drawing board again. Switch the colour. I don’t want red no more, opposite of red is blue. I was going to go orange because no one wears orange like that. But it’s like, let’s do it. They gave me this avatar blue. I don’t know what it is, sky blue. But I ran with it, so it’s all good.
AM: Creatively and obviously doing that on your own as a solo guy within The Bloodline, from what we understand, you’ve got Heyman and Roman chucking in their their 10 cents, and Triple H. Working with Triple H as a solo capacity, has it been different?
JU: I’m actually more confident than ever right now. I took all the tools that they gave me. During the pandemic era, being with Hunter and Heyman in the room, just with The Bloodline, just us, going over and spitting ideas. I learned all that, and now I apply it on my own. And then working with Hunter right now as a single competitor, it’s cool. I feel like I finally, earned that respect now, and it’s all love.
Work seems easier right now, all that worrying stuff, being anxious all the time, it’s out the way. Now I just go out there and I’m on the if I’m on the card that night, I make sure I’m bringing energy. That’s just my thing. I just want to dial it up. During the show, when I come out, I feel like there’s a spike here. Even if you never watched wrestling, it was like, ‘Alright, who’s he? He’s got to be a main player’.
He detailed his role in Roman Reigns’ match with Cody Rhodes, which featured a number of stars past and present
The Rock (left) and John Cena (right) were just two of the performers to feature in the match
Jey described the bout as ‘the best main event in WrestleMania ever’, having watched some of it as a fan
AM: In the main event of night two, you’re involved in that, where you have your moment with your brother and trying to help out. That’s got to be a moment on the bucket list too. We’re talking Cena, Rock, Taker, Roman, Cody. Talk to me about being involved in that with those names.
JU: I didn’t even know what was going down. They told me, this is your part, his what you’re going to do. I’m like, ‘Alright, cool, I get to spear my brother off of stage, cool’. I’m so concentrated on my spot, then I don’t know what’s going down, then they tell me the rest of the what’s what’s happening. I made sure after I did what I did to hurry up and kind of get to the back so I could continue watching the match, because I automatically turned into a fan again. I think it was the best main event in WrestleMania ever. My favourite part might have been when Undertaker popped up.
AM: Some people, thought it was going to be Austin, just because of the rumours.
JU: I’m glad it was Undertaker, for sure.
