11 Times WWE Was Better Than Literally EVERYTHING
6. "Ucey?"
It was a storyline full of moments like this one, but there was something about the moment Roman Reigns incredulously parroted Sami Zayn's preposterous assertion that seemed to bring the entire wrestling fanbase around something that was connecting like little else had in the decades prior.
Despite being WWE Champion for two years by this point, a Roman Reigns SmackDown appearance alone was big enough that a meme emerged from all the times that WWE had made a graphic promoting it. Notably though, he'd become a bit more of a familiar presence over the Autumn of 2022 thanks to the phenomenal new direction his Bloodline group had gone in following the additions of Solo Sikoa and especially Sami Zayn.
The newbies were more than just added muscle for The Usos during the run-ins for Roman - they provided texture and gave Jimmy and Jey additional personalities to bounce off when Reigns wasn't around. Sikoa was the silence behind the violence, always looking on and doing more with his eyes in a few seconds backstage than he ever could with minutes and a microphone years later. Zayn's mere existence infuriated Jey - he'd died/been as good as killed by Roman until he fell in line, and couldn't sanction how outlier Sami had somehow wormed his way into the 'Tribal Chief's good graces almost overnight. Patter god Jimmy...kinda liked him a bit.
There were several nights where all the personalities got a chance to shine, but never had a half an hour opening segment felt as economical as it did on the October 28th 2022 SmackDown. With tension bubbling over between Sami and Jey despite Zayn's earnest best efforts to fall in and fit in, Uso first snapped, noting that he "didn't give a damn what The Tribal Chief" pulling Roman in to manage the dispute and consolidate his power. Peacemaker Zayn went to bat for Jey in desperation, begging Roman's forgiveness and explaining that his cousin wasn't feeling "Ucey", resulting in near universal corpsing from everybody in the ring.
The lights were shining brightly on everybody fighting back giggles and tears, but everybody in the arena and at home were welcomed in on the joke. What ordinarily might have broken kayfabe instead just helped the act break through, and business was ready to boom again.