Jey Uso is the new world heavyweight champion. Uso defeated Gunther in the opening match of WrestleMania 41 on Saturday night, capitalizing on his opportunity to win the Royal Rumble in January.
The victory is the culmination of a journey that began for Uso in 2020, when he emerged as a credible singles star during the crowdless ThunderDome period of the early COVID-19 epidemic.
At the time, Uso was facing off against his cousin Roman Reigns, earning the nickname “Main Event Jey Uso.” Uso’s popularity grew as he sided with and fought Reigns and The Bloodline.
Following his victory in the Rumble, Uso set his sights on Gunther, who had defeated him in a February 2024 intercontinental championship match, a May 2024 King of the Ring tournament match, and again in January when Gunther successfully defended his world heavyweight championship.
Uso selected a match with Gunther over one against undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes to demonstrate his ability to defeat one of the most dominant men on the WWE roster.
As expected from such a major match on the WrestleMania stage, both Uso and Gunther repeatedly performed their strongest techniques but were unable to finish one other off.
Uso kicked out of Gunther’s powerbomb, withstood being smacked with the championship belt, and fought off a sleeper hold to keep the champion frustrated. During the last stretch, Uso encouraged Gunther to continue his savage attacks, even laughing as he did so.
After countering Gunther’s powerbomb with his own, Uso went to the top rope and hit his Uso Splash three times before trapping Gunther in a sleeper and forcing him to tap out.
Uso won the biggest match of his life on the largest stage of all, cementing his place in history as a world champion. Uso was joined by his twin brother Jimmy in celebrating his victory, and the two enjoyed the moment.
WWE legend Paul Heyman recently spoke with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri about why Uso is a man who can be trusted to carry one of the company’s two biggest title belts, as well as why fans’ disappointment with the build-up to the match between Uso and Gunther should be dismissed.
“Tell me the criteria, the metric, the analytic, or the economic basis by which this criticism is levied on Jey Uso,” Mr. Heyman replied. “Here is knowledge that I, your Wise Man, have access to. Jey Uso’s quarter-hour ratings skyrocketed. Jey Uso’s ratings skyrocket minute by minute.
T-shirt sales online: Jey Uso has consistently ranked first or second since before the Royal Rumble. In-arena t-shirt sales: Jey Uso has regularly been number one or number two, with only a few outliers since before the Royal Rumble.
“When people say, ‘Jey Uso has been somewhat disappointing. The reception after he won the Rumble was positive, but gradually it subsided. Really? By which metric? He drives numbers, generates revenue, and facilitates commerce.
He sells tickets. He generates revenue for a publicly traded company, and as a result, the stock rises in value. Where hasn’t he scored? Those who claim he hasn’t scored, has been disappointing, or isn’t as good as he was during the Royal Rumble have no idea what they’re talking about.
The remainder of Night 1 produced some fascinating outcomes as well. Most notably, Paul Heyman betrayed both CM Punk and Roman Reigns in the main event to align himself with Seth Rollins, who won the triple threat match after Heyman delivered a pair of low blows. In addition, Jacob Fatu won the United States championship by defeating LA Knight, while The New Day claimed the Raw tag team belts from War Raiders.
