15 Things We Learned From WWE Unreal
3. WWE Were Worried About Jey Uso
Earlier, Jey Uso's trials and tribulations when breaking out as a singles star were examined. Putting his hand up, Jey acknowledged that he found it challenging to go from being a tag-team worker to a solo one. In episode 5, Netflix explored Uso's journey from Royal Rumble winner to World Heavyweight Champion after WrestleMania 41. It wasn't a straightforward path.
WWE came close to scrapping the whole thing.
Throughout March and into April before ‘Mania, Triple H is shown telling Jey: “Get that wind up, baby”. In other words, you’re losing your mojo during the most crucial time of the year. Everybody, including Bruce Prichard, Michael Hayes and other writers, were concerned that Uso was feeling the pressure after winning the Rumble. Then, Hunter wonders whether taking the win away from him at ‘Mania would “light a fire” and do the would-be headliner some good.
Jey admits later in episode 5 that he found the transition from tag-team guy to singles worker harder due to longer matches more than outright pressure. There's also a fab moment with Triple H congratulating Jey and saying he knows how much winning the World Title means to him behind the curtain in Las Vegas. In retrospect, 'The Game' is glad he stuck to his guns with Uso.
Jey didn't get the longest World Title reign going before dropping the strap back to Gunther, but the WrestleMania win was WWE's way of cementing him as a true main eventer they could come back to in the future. There were valid concerns about how shattered Uso was during select matches on TV though.