{"id":132679,"date":"2025-03-23T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=132679"},"modified":"2025-03-22T16:51:41","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T20:51:41","slug":"jey-uso-deserves-his-wwe-wrestlemania-41-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/03\/23\/jey-uso-deserves-his-wwe-wrestlemania-41-match\/","title":{"rendered":"Jey Uso Deserves His WWE WrestleMania 41 Match"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Look, Jey Uso is a great professional wrestler and deserves his spot on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/03\/21\/early-wwe-wrestlemania-41-predictions\/\" target=\"_self\">WWE WrestleMania 41 card<\/a>. The internet era of wrestling fandom has adopted the tradition of complaining about one or two super popular (or infamous on the heel side) talents on the Road to WrestleMania.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The last several years have had an added bit of tradition, which is usually about Gunther&#8217;s opponent. Sami Zayn was a better choice <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/03\/13\/chad-gable-vs-gunther-should-not-happen-at-wrestlemania\/\" target=\"_self\">than Chad Gable<\/a>, and Jey Uso is a better choice than AJ Styles or the various other names pitched online.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When you look at what it takes to be a pro wrestler, there is really no way not to come to another conclusion. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">YEET!!!<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/RoyalRumble?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#RoyalRumble<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VIU3nG4jcz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/VIU3nG4jcz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; WWE (@WWE) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1885892799465157085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While lost to the ancient internet circa 2016, WWE legend William Regal gave some great wrestling advice in a lengthy post. The full text is still floating around but to summarize it all into four points for easy reading, consider these the top-line tips to follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">First, you need to be a student of the industry. Secondly, be great at what you are great at; own what you are not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Next, you should make everything you do matter to the fans. Lastly, try to be a one-off. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Born and Bred for Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The student of the game advice has been uttered in vain by grumpy veterans, but it is true. The best in the business know the business very well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That doesn&#8217;t mean they are lifelong fans; they just put in the time to see what has worked and hasn&#8217;t worked in the past. There are very few exceptions to this rule, and the people who didn&#8217;t do that are often only in the industry for a quick stint before moving on. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jey Uso does NOT like Jacob Fatu! \ud83d\ude05 #WWE #SmackDown\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QHyxtL7d-T0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jey Uso and his whole family grew up in wrestling history. In the videos Regal would recommend, Jey had front-row seats and backstage access. Nepotism is undoubtedly a fraught topic in the workplace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That being said, for the wrestling industry, it comes with perks. While Jey may not remind people of his famous family, seeing them for decades has clearly informed the way he built this current persona, and it has found the success that many of his family have over the past decades. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There are No Limiting Factors to Greatness<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In addition to his advice about mastering the basics in the ring and practicing promos and character work, William Regal emphasizes that every wrestler will be bad at something. It is legion among the most vocal on X and other apps to highlight those areas, and Regal advises wrestlers to do the opposite. If you are not good at something, don&#8217;t do it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jey Uso and Gunther clash for the World Title: Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event, Jan. 25, 2025\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7dyve7fw47g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jey&#8217;s limited move set is likely the result of his mastery of that advice. If you have only a handful of high-impact moves, then those are the ones that you use. Even his opponent, Gunther, while more likely to use a variety of maneuvers, cuts very rudimentary promos of the &#8220;I am a wrestling master&#8221; variety.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">His attempt at using class and privilege was an unmitigated disaster saved by the matches between him and Damian Priest. Every great wrestler does what they know works best whenever they are performing, which is why they always get a reaction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A story doesn&#8217;t need to be long, or even very good. A good wrestler will make it <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/10\/22\/how-to-use-a-wwe-championship-as-a-plot-device-starring-jey-uso\/\" target=\"_self\">make sense<\/a>, even if it doesn&#8217;t. That is something both Jey and Gunther excel at in different ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jey Uso is a Great Professional Wrestler; Ask the Crowd. <\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There isn&#8217;t a move in the proverbial toolbox that matters if the crowd doesn&#8217;t care about you. The annals of wrestling history are full of talented wrestlers who had everything you needed when the bell rang, but nobody cared by the time their matches started.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There have even been recent examples of often-overlooked stars like Ricochet adding a smarmy character and instantly finding more success in AEW. Jey Uso is a great professional wrestler because no matter how many moves he has in his moveset, the fans are excited to see them, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/02\/01\/wwe-royal-rumble-2025-jey-uso\/\" target=\"_self\">excited to see him<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Jey Uso sends Lyon crowd into a frenzy with entrance: WWE Backlash France highlights, May 4, 2024\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r-8nyIwuAJY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Getting people to care about you is one of the more challenging aspects of wrestling. The promotion determines the stories you tell, and<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">the matches you win or lose are similarly not your call. Jey Uso has had some fortunate runs in his career, no doubt, but has also been handed some terrible ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That hasn&#8217;t blunted his rise up the card though because, each time out, he makes the fans interested. Some of that is natural but, as Regal indicates, not everyone has that &#8220;Elvis&#8221; aura.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jey has been around a long time, so it isn&#8217;t a natural phenomenon. It is a deliberate decision every time out to maximize his minutes by engaging with the crowd, not performing for them. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Can You Use it in A Sentence?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What is Yeet? It seems, like aloha, to shift meaning in different contexts. Fans can exclaim it when Jey meets his opponent out of the ring to win the Royal Rumble, then use it to agree with a friend or welcome another person into a conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">An inordinate amount of time is being spent on the &#8220;overreliance&#8221; on Yeet in the Jey Uso character. Like Rusev before him, the internet feels that the word is over and not the wrestler. They are half correct.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Yeet is very much over. That is because nobody in the company, or all of wrestling, can use it like Jey. It is a fresh gimmick in an industry that can get stale at a moment&#8217;s notice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The YEET Master, Jey Uso \ud83d\ude4c\ud83d\ude0e\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RIV99a3VzxA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He connects with audiences and has proven himself to be a great professional wrestler <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/09\/11\/jey-uso-should-win-the-world-heavyweight-championship\/\" target=\"_self\">on his own<\/a> because you can&#8217;t pin Jey Uso into a specific character. You can describe him easily, of course, in just one word, really. That description, though, is totally unique, and the gimmick hasn&#8217;t been used by anybody else, let alone somebody better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> There have been wrestlers who dance, and there is an active wrestler with the same look and moves as Jey, who isn&#8217;t nearly as over right now. Being a Samoan wrestler isn&#8217;t unique.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">His dad, Rikishi, was even a dancing Samoan wrestler. The Yeet-afication of Jey is what sets him apart; it describes his essence while leaving room for development. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Company Line for Why Jey Uso is a Great Professional Wrestler <\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fans correctly point out that they do not care about <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">certain<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> metrics that WWE or AEW might consider when pushing a wrestler. For many folks, the company designation is not relevant to assessing a performer. It would not be <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">right<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, though, to ignore the very real reason why WWE sees Jey Uso as a great professional wrestler.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He brings in a ton of money in merchandise. He sells out his appearances at Fanatics events. Basically, Jey is making a profit for them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Like it or not, money is, and always will be, the business side&#8217;s top priority, and they will reward the stars that provably expand their revenue with prominent spots to keep them happy and focused on the brand. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Meet me in the big apple on 3\/10.<br \/>YEET!<br \/>Jey <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/488J6J3Wy5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/488J6J3Wy5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Usos (@WWEUsos) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWEUsos\/status\/1897341060982218753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Last Word from a Legendary Voice<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">William Regal attributed this last bit of advice to the late great Roddy Piper. The Rowdy One said, &#8220;Always wrestle from your heart. It sounds simple, but it&#8217;s not. Don&#8217;t play at pro wrestling.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">You can see when an athlete is technically gifted. You can also see <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">when a good actor is talking to the audience. It is hard to know when a wrestler locks in because, at that point, he is 100% real despite Jey&#8217;s crazy outfits and the silliness of the character.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Perhaps, actually, it is because of those things. Jey <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/09\/05\/the-brilliance-of-jey-uso-as-roman-reigns-first-universal-championship-opponent\/\" target=\"_self\">handled himself<\/a> phenomenally in The Bloodline. Working with family had everyone perform at their best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He was performing, though, in a way that Sami Zayn or Roman Reigns were not. Since going alone, Jey has stopped playing as a<\/span> <span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">wrestler. He seems like his authentic self, and it worked to his great benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">WWE has plenty of talented guys that I still don&#8217;t believe. They may have the OMG move of the night, but they won&#8217;t ever have the lasting moment fans remember forever. Being the guy who can illicit that moment is the only mark of a great wrestler that matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Yeet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on Jey Uso, WWE WrestleMania 41, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Netflix<\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Network<\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The CW<\/a>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tubi<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A&amp;E<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments) and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Main Event as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube<\/a>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE Speed<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Look, Jey Uso is a great professional wrestler and deserves his spot on the WWE WrestleMania 41 card. The internet era of wrestling fandom has adopted the tradition of complaining about one or two super popular (or infamous on the heel side) talents on the Road to WrestleMania. The last several years have had an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4470,"featured_media":132696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2192,4,3],"tags":[8238,1724,7994,863,8907,47],"class_list":["post-132679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-gunther","tag-jey-uso","tag-the-bloodline","tag-william-regal","tag-wrestlemania-41","tag-wwe"],"modified_by":"Chinyere Okafor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132679"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132691,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132679\/revisions\/132691"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}