Last night’s Monday Night RAW was the second consecutive week in which WWE’s weekly show was delivered at a high level. The main event between Bron Breakker and Jey Uso for Breakker’s Intercontinental title felt big. The match itself delivered big time, resulting in Jey Uso’s hand being raised in the sky as the winner and the new champion. But with all of the time and energy spent making Bron Breakker this unstoppable force, was last night’s booking a mistake, or was WWE forced into pulling the plug on Breakker’s IC title run due to Jey Uso being undeniably over with the fans?
Jey Uso’s Recent Run Was Once A Pipe Dream
It’s no secret that Jimmy and Jey Uso are considered one of the best tag teams in this current generation. The talent was never the question, but the decisions they made outside of the ring were highly questionable. Jimmy has had three DUIs, along with being arrested for driving with a suspended license, while Jey had a DWI of his own in 2018. With all of these legal issues, most wrestlers would have likely been cut from the company, but the WWE found it in their hearts to keep giving them another chance to make things right. Jimmy’s arrest in 2021 was the final straw, and both knew they had to get their life together.
That’s when the Bloodline, led by Roman Reigns, really started to heat up, and as the layers of the story got deeper, so did the bond between cousins (Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa) leading to Jimmy and Jey getting their act together. They would buy into the story and take it to new heights, leading to a match between themselves at this years’ WrestleMania. Although the match itself didn’t live up to the hype, it was clear that the WWE Universe was ready to get behind Jey Uso.
Shortly after, the “Yeet” campaign took off, and Jey’s ring intros became more and more of an event itself. The lights in the arena would go off. He would come through the crowd and have the WWE Universe do his dance. Weirdly, it was almost like Brey Wyatt’s spirit helped get the whole ringwalk over, as he was famously known for a similar entrance minus the dance and walking through the crowd.
When the preview video clip of Jey Uso inside the arena with a ton of fans going wild behind him appeared on RAW at the top of the show, that right there was the big indicator that even if you wanted to keep Bron Breakker as your champion, you could not deny how over Jey is with the WWE Universe. You almost have to put the strap on him. Whether the decision was made days prior or right before the start of the match, the right move was for him to win the title on Monday Night, but will it come at a steep cost of potentially damaging a young star that the WWE spent months building up?
Did The Loss Hurt Bron Breakker Or Did It Clear The Path For A World Title Run?
There is no question that Bron Breakker will be one of WWE’s next biggest stars. The son of Rick Steiner, nephew to Scott Steiner (The Steiner Brothers), has been on a roll ever since being called up from NXT. He has everything going for himself: the look, personality, athleticism, and sharp promo skills. So why was Breakker’s IC title run cut short during his second defense? It’s hard to deny how over Jey Uso is, but you can argue for Breakker being equally over as a destructive force. It’s clear that Jey’s gimmick is much larger now but the future is still Breakker.
The WWE has to feel that there would never be an easy way to do this. The thought of a Bill Goldberg WCW 90s run was a nice strategy, but the WWE did not want to have Breakker get stuck too long at the IC title level. As I mentioned in “The Working Progress Podcast,” Breakker will have a world title run in 2025, and last night’s loss to Jey almost solidifies that. The storyline between Uso and Breakker won’t go much further, and Breakker will either win the Royal Rumble or the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2025. Dropping the title last night could also mean he will get a shot at John Cena next year before Cena hangs up his boots.
My Three Cents
Although most would have preferred Breakker to lose the title last night in a fashion that wasn’t such a clean pin, the WWE felt the need to do that to make Jey Uso’s victory feel that much bigger. Ultimately, it’s a business, and Jey Uso’s tee shirts and Yeet glasses must be doing big business for the WWE to go out of their way to do this. Although this felt too soon for Breakker, he is someone that the WWE is playing the long game with, and it’ll be interesting to see how they move him from here.
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