JEY USO IS not supposed to be here.
Not because the 2025 Royal Rumble winner doesn’t deserve to be in the World Heavyweight Championship match vs. Gunther at WrestleMania 41. It’s because he never wanted to be here.
Well, he never wanted to do it alone.
Unlike his contemporaries, Jey Uso never dreamed of standing tall by himself at WrestleMania as a champion. It was always supposed to be alongside his twin brother and tag team partner, Jimmy. Aside from the nine minutes between their births on Aug. 22, 1985, Jey and Jimmy Uso have essentially done everything together. They have accomplished everything a tag team could want in WWE, including being the longest-reigning tag team champions, performing in the first tag team main event in WrestleMania history at WrestleMania 39, and going against each other at WrestleMania XL. The idea of doing something all alone had never once crossed his mind.
“To be honest, I never did anything without my brother,” Jey told ESPN. “Every single major checkpoint of our lives, bro. We did everything together. From playing football, going to college and having regular jobs to our current jobs at WWE. We even had our kids at the same time.”
As a son of WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi, Jay Uso’s purview of pro wrestling has always been a family affair. On the rare occasions he wasn’t working with his brother, he was surrounded by members of the renowned Anoa’i family, which includes cousins Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu, younger brother Solo Sikoa, and, of course, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
At WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, Jey Uso will be in a role that nobody could have seen coming a decade ago when he was in tag team purgatory, relegated to WrestleMania preshows at best and struggling to get television time at worst. But after shocking the world and eliminating favorite John Cena to win at Royal Rumble in February, he’s earned a chance to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship and will enter WrestleMania as one of the biggest stars on the roster.
“I think it would be one of the most fan-friendly and emotional victories in the history of this industry,” WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman said of the possibility that Jey could take home the World Heavyweight Championship, “because the audience has lived through the turmoil of Jey Uso’s career.”
BEFORE THE MULLET with the high fade haircut, the midriff tops with “Yeet” scribed across the front, the white Nike Air Force Ones, the sunglasses and the entrance, Jimmy and Jey debuted as The Usos on WWE Monday Night Raw on May 24, 2010, with little flair.
They spent the next eight years clawing their way to the top of the division. They won tag team gold on several occasions, but they weren’t seen as a priority on the roster, reflected by their relegation to preshow on WWE’s biggest event of the year until WrestleMania 34 in 2018.
“They say the journey is just as important as the destination, right?” Jimmy Uso said with a sort of tongue-in-cheek delivery. “It was a long-ass journey, and it was definitely a grind. … But when you get that damn opportunity, you gotta run with it, bro.”
The Usos reinvented themselves by just being themselves, ditching face paint and the Siva Tau entrance in favor of a more hip-hop aesthetic. Fans began embracing the Usos, and they found themselves moving up in the pecking order as a tag team.
“I think we all believed in Jey and Jimmy years ago, long before either one of them realized they had a future apart from each other,” Heyman said.
A 30-year veteran of the industry, Heyman realized Jey was special when Rikishi –then known as Junior Fatu — brought his sons to a WCW television taping in July 1989. The 4-year-olds executed wrestling moves with ease, and Heyman was certain he would see them again in the industry. By the time Heyman returned to WWE in 2012 and reconnected with the twins as adults, he knew there was something left to unlock.
“They were indisputably the best tag team in the world. It was too easy for them,” Heyman said. “So anytime the suggestion was thrown out there that they could both be single stars, they would look at everyone like we were crazy because how could you break up the best tag team in the world? Neither one of them truly understood just how much box office [appeal] they had to offer until they were put in a position where they had no choice but to self-analyze and realize the singles greatness that lives inside each of them.”
Jey Uso (left) and Jimmy Uso (right) started in WWE as tag team partners. Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports
And then everything changed.
Jey Uso’s ascent to stardom, during which he added the moniker “Main Event,” began when the world shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Usos were scheduled for a triple-threat tag match against The New Day and defending champions John Morrison and The Miz. However, it was reported that The Miz was pulled from the match due to illness, turning it into a rare triple threat in which only one of the Uso twins could participate.
“I thought our match would get canceled, but they just ended up making it a triple-threat singles match,” Jimmy recalled. It was the first time he and his brother wouldn’t work WrestleMania together. “We did paper, rock, scissors to see who would end up working the match. I won … and then I injured my knee.”
An ACL injury sidelined Jimmy and forced Jey to go at it alone for the first time in his career.
Without Jimmy by his side, Jey was thrust into a storyline with his cousin Roman Reigns, which ended up laying the foundation for The Bloodline story that dominated WWE television over the next four years. Jey would challenge Reigns on two occasions for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in emotional, heartfelt matches that saw the twin begin to come into his own as a singles star.
“That was the first time I got to be a fan of my brother,” Jimmy said. “I had to sit my ass still for once and turn off the side of my brain that’s in the ring. And I was like, ‘To hell with this, I’m going to be a fan.'”
Jimmy returned from injury and rejoined his brother in The Bloodline in Spring 2021. By then, Jey had undergone a full-blown reinvention and was no longer seen as one of the Uso twins. Under the tutelage of Reigns and Heyman, one of the greatest minds in the business, Jey blossomed into a star in his own right.
“Everything about The Bloodline was a collaborative effort, with the goals of making each individual stand out on their own with their unique personality,” Heyman said. “Fans now know the difference between Jey and Jimmy. It took a long time to define them, but once their personality started shining on television, the audience understood the difference between the two Uso brothers.”
Whenever he’s asked about his brother, Jimmy beams a smile and uses the words “we” instead of “he” or “I.”
“I’m right there with him,” he said. “We’re out here living the dream. The first tag team to main event WrestleMania. They told us that wasn’t possible. Then we faced each other at WrestleMania. That’s crazy. Now you’re talking about the cherry on top for my brother? Come on, man. Things like this don’t happen in a twin’s world.
“I’ll tell you one thing: If I didn’t get hurt, I don’t think we would have had the opportunity to split and become Jimmy and Jey. It was a blessing in disguise.”
THE BEST WAY to document the growth of a pro wrestler is through the lens of a video game, as odd as that may sound.
Jey Uso debuted in WWE 2K13 as a downloadable character after the game’s release with an overall rating of 81, tied as the lowest-rated male wrestler in the game. In WWE 2K25, Jey’s overall rating of 90 is tied for eighth amongst active wrestlers, behind the likes of Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins and CM Punk. It is easily recognized as one of the biggest leaps for a character in the franchise.
“Jey Uso’s rise within the company and in our game just slowly started ticking up like the Nasdaq in the best way possible,” WWE 2K gameplay producer Bryan Williams told ESPN. “Him and his brother were essentially the same character model in the game for years — from ratings to move sets. But during The Bloodline Era, we needed to create a totally different model for an act who was essentially a brand-new performer in the franchise.”
Jey Uso has become a fan favorite as a singles wrestler. Joe Camporeale/Imagn Images
Williams has been part of the WWE 2K franchise’s development team since 2005 and has had a heavy hand in the ratings and character design. As a lifelong pro wrestling fan, Williams takes great pride in Jey Uso’s character development, which includes every aspect of his character, including his entrance.
“It’s fire because now I ain’t got to create myself and up my stats no more,” said Jey, who almost teared up when he landed on the cover of the special The Bloodline Edition for WWE 2K25 with the rest of his family.
His growth in the video game made his evolution to singles wrestler feel real to him. But nothing felt as real as his victory at the Royal Rumble after losing to Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event the previous week..
The reality that he was tapped to win didn’t dawn on him until walkthroughs earlier in the day when he was left in the room with Logan Paul in John Cena. Aside from his coworkers in the ring, nobody knew he would win.
“I wanted to shock my dad,” Jey said of keeping the result from his family. “He was so emotional when he saw it because he knows what this spot means for me. He’s been around this business for so long that he thinks nothing can shock him. But that did.”
Jey joined The Rock, Roman Reigns and his uncle, the late Yokozuna, as the fourth member of the Anoa’i family to win the Royal Rumble.
We’ve seen phenomenal underdog stories culminate at WrestleMania before. Rey Mysterio capturing the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22, Daniel Bryan defying the odds to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 30, and Kofi Kingston’s emotional ride to defeating Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35.
What separates Jey from those before him is that they were viewed as lifelong singles stars waiting for their turn. Jey never asked for a turn, he earned one.
“I never thought I’d be a top singles star,” said Jey, still shaking his head in disbelief. “Being the best tag team with my brother was the number one goal, but now I’m going from the preshow to the main event. It’s been an adjustment without my brother by my side, and I’m just now feeling OK on my own as a singles wrestler.”
Though he’ll be alone against Gunther at WrestleMania 41, he said he will embrace the opportunity and carry his family legacy into the ring.
“I hear the naysayers,” Jey said. “They are saying I don’t deserve this opportunity and I can’t win, but it took 15 years to get here and now I have one shot after my number got called and I’m going to answer the damn call … and then we’re going to go party with the whole family, Vegas style.”
