Jimmy & Jey Uso Set The Table For WWE Crown Jewel 2024 On RAW

The Giant Center in Hershey, PA, played host to this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, but the venue also played host to NXT’s Halloween Havoc last night on Peacock. Crown Jewel is on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, but the brand crossover event has received all the storyline build-up that these one-off feuds pitting champion versus champion will get.

Oh Snap, The Rock Is Thanos As Avengers Assemble

Aside from the quick intro with live footage of tonight’s featured stars, the truck cut to a lengthy RAW and SmackDown recap breaking down the turbulent road that brothers Jimmy and Jey Uso have been on. Jey lost his IC title in last week’s episode, but the overbooking combined with the rollercoaster nature of Bron Breakker’s booking stole the headlines. That fact made it all the sweeter when Jey, who up until then had refused to ‘squash the beef’ with his original Bloodline fam, came out to help Jimmy face the odds.

It was fitting that Jey and Jimmy would get the opening segment when the feed returned to live. There was a bit of resistance from Jey at first, but ultimately, he agreed to Jimmy’s request that he show up to SmackDown to have a ‘sit-down’ with Roman Reigns in hopes of a relationship beyond mere truce. He agreed only after making Jimmy aware that if they were going to ‘be the “USOs” again, it is understood that they would be nobody’s (Roman’s) foot soldiers.

The WWE Universe, at one time, could not always tell Jimmy from Jey, but in his passionate promo, the “Yeet Man” acknowledged that the crowd is now very aware of the difference between Jey and Jimmy. The Bloodline came out and took down both USOs before they rallied to clear the ring.

With New Day’s storyline delivering so much depth, it makes sense for the other division’s GOATs to capitalize on their storied team lore. Jey was on a great run as a single’s competitor following long-running rumors he’d receive a significant push, but it is hard to tell if this is a full pivot from the “Main Event Jey” persona in favor of making him a bit player in WWE’s biggest storyline or if creative is laying the groundwork for Roman to assemble his War Games super team—wrestling’s version of Avengers. Regarding the path, the reuniting of ‘The USOs’ must result in a program with Motor City Machine Guns.

Jey Uso & Sami Zayn Headed ‘Back Into The Fight?’

“You know Sami, you wouldn’t understand… because you’re not family Uce,” Jey told Sami Zayn later in a backstage segment. It was a callback to the original Bloodline as Sami attempted to talk Jey out of “going back” into the fight with Roman and Solo’s struggle for Bloodline leadership. Jimmy was contentious as Sami requested a sidebar with Jey away from his brother, but it felt like this orbit was too big to turn back now. In fact, it is more likely that Zane is inevitably recruited into Roman’s army than it is both he and Jey walk away clean with zero ‘blood’ on their hands.

Later, Jey and Jimmy spoke about Sami, and Jimmy offered to speak with Sami to smooth things over with the only non-family member of the original Bloodline. Jey was initially resistant, but it did not take long for him to show his hand, and his sudden change of heart indicates a deeply rooted desire for a reunion. This subtle storytelling is brilliant because of the complexity of the family combined with the strategic nature of a Civil War.

Seth Rollins Hunting Monsters

With all the hype surrounding Crown Jewel this weekend, it was odd how little this show felt like an actual go-home episode. Seth, though, was able to tap into the rich vein of Reed’s monstrous booking by claiming that he would unleash the monster within him—the one that he thought was ‘put to bed.’

Reed appeared on the monitor, claiming he had promised GM Pearce that he would not go ringside. So, instead, Rollins came to the Monster Reed and delivered a stomp on top of a car. Rollins started to cut a promo before realizing that Reed was not the kind of animal you can put down with a single dart. Fighting inside a truck, Reed eventually drove Rollins with a ‘Death Valley Driver’ through tables set up outside of the truck. Officials tended to Seth in the aftermath. The commentary later mentioned that Rollins was dealing with an injury.

Mystery Main Event?

In the oddest booking for the night, Dom Mysterio was promoted for a match with a ‘former champion.’ The hook was that Dom was requesting a heavyweight title match, but Pearce decided that Dom needed to start by facing and defeating a former champ before he was given a shot for the title.

That opponent would end up being Damian Priest, and that makes you wonder why you booked it as a ‘mystery opponent’ to begin with, as this feud has been running for some time now. The Judgment Day eventually interfered, and the distraction allowed Dom the opportunity to roll up Priest for the upset pinfall victory. Priest lost it after the loss and continued beating on Dom with a chair even as Liv screamed on in protest. Still, Priest wasted any JD members close enough to feel his wrath. RAW ended with Dom as the winner but Priest standing tall in a very heel-ish sendoff.

Tag Team #1 Contenders Match

The tag team divisions have been highly featured the past couple of weeks as both brands had their own number one contenders processes—SmackDown’s resulted in new tag champs. Tonight, War Raiders, The New Day, and LWO’s Rey Mysterio Jr and Dragon Lee faced off in a triple threat tag match to determine the challengers for Judgment Day title holders.

The War Raiders had the best showing in terms of performance, displaying their unique version of power and athleticism in the form of double team action. Woods continued his heelish tendencies for the other two teams as he abandoned the gameplan (and his partner) to attack Rey when he was not the legal man. Eventually, Chad Gable got involved and stuck an ankle lock on Rey, which allowed the War Raiders to pick up the victory and the number one contenders status.

Other Action

• Sheamus def KAISER in single’s action
• “UNSEEN footage” from this year’s Mania is set to drop on WWE’s YouTube page. It looks very interesting and is being systematically placed in a very smart way so that casuals get a “recap of last season” before Survivor Series War Games inevitably kicks off the bigger storyline headed into Mania.
• Ivy Nile def Zelina Vega in single’s action
• R-Truth got his revenge on Miz tonight after Miz tried apologizing in an attempt to reunite Awesome Truth. Truth dismissed Otis and company before slapping Miz in the face and wishing him ‘good luck with Wyatt Sicks.’

Mario Mungia

Mario Mungia Jr. has a decade worth of experience as a combat sports journalist and correspondent which began with ThaBoxingVoice (TBV) as a podcast co-host, writer and editor-in-chief. Aside from his online resume, Mario spent a fair portion of his early career working for Spanish/English magazine Premier Round and the Mexican website Izquierdo. Mario has also contributed to NYFights while simultaneously working for MIC Sports Network as part of the broadcast crew covering local high school sports. Since then, he has launched his own podcast/live stream (Infighting/Work In Progress) and is covering pro wrestling for FightsATW.

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