Deep Dive: Roman Reigns Vs. Jey Uso Was WWE At Its Absolute Best
Reigns vs. Uso excelled because WWE kept it simple, stupid.
Professional wrestling need not be complicated.
We forget this at times, but who can blame us? Vince McMahon loathes the word "wrestling." The bulk of his tenure as WWE Chairman has seen him attempt to steer the market-leading promotion far away from its roots as scripted combat. This is Sports Entertainment, pal, not rasslin'. The people you watch on television aren't rasslers, but Superstars, and you, dear viewer, are a member of the WWE Universe.
McMahon isn't the only person complicit in this (what's up, Vince Russo?), though he is comfortably the most influential. His product is often closer to a television show about wrestling than a wrestling television show. Recent episodes of Raw have been built around RETRIBUTION waging company-sponsored "chaos" on an entity that gave them contracts regardless, a Mysterio family feud lowlighted by romantic teases between 19-year-old Aalyah and 31-year-old Murphy (plus Seth Rollins' "not the father" bit), and pointless, nonsensical tag team splits.
Logic is lost in this realm. Almost 20 years on from the Monday Night Wars, the game's most successful company is increasingly intent on presenting a full-on soap opera with a side serving of combat when it ought to be the other way around. Yes, wrestling should be open to evolution, and its wackier side has yielded hundreds of iconic moments, but WWE often veers so far from the source that it isn't even in the rearview anymore. For the most part, the illusion of "competition" has rarely been less important in this realm.
Which is why Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns was one of the best stories WWE has told in years.
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