WWE Considered Going a Different Direction with Jey Uso at WrestleMania 41

Jey Uso won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41, but it appears WWE actually considered going a different direction if Uso didn’t stop buckling under the pressure.

During WWE Unreal, as WrestleMania 41 got closer, Triple H and others started thinking about changing plans if Jey Uso couldn’t handle the pressure. Triple H said that with only a month left, no one could afford to lose their energy, confidence or love for what they’re doing. Mistakes will happen, but they can’t let that stop them.

“WrestleMania—as you get closer to the end and where we stand a month out—you can’t have people start losing their mojo, their confidence, or their passion for it. Something’s always going to go wrong, but that can’t be what stops you.”

Bruce Prichard said they needed to be careful with Jey Uso, build him up and protect him because people were starting to notice when things went wrong. One moment, like Jey missing a dive, made it clear that something wasn’t right.

“We’ve got to protect Jey. We’ve got to build him, protect him, and be really careful with what we do. Because people are seeing it—‘Hey man, he’s blowing it.’ You saw it. You saw he missed the dive.”

Michael Hayes added that the pressure seemed to be getting to Jey Uso, and for a couple of weeks, things felt off. Everyone was really getting worried.

“We’ve seen during this that the pressure’s been getting to Jey quite a bit. Make no mistake about it. It was off track for a couple of weeks, and everyone was worried.”

During a meeting, Triple H wondered if Jey Uso was having a hard time because they told him he was going to be “the guy.” He said they explained to Jey Uso that if things didn’t get better, they might have to change the plan. The hope was that this would push Jey to step up.

“Maybe Jey was struggling because we said, ‘We’re gonna make you the guy.’ So we tell him, ‘Look, it didn’t go the right way. If it keeps going like this when we get there, we’re not gonna pull the trigger. We’re gonna have to go the other way.’ Does that light a bigger fire under his ass? Or does that make him fight for it?”

Bruce Prichard said winning at WrestleMania wasn’t guaranteed. Jey Uso had to show them he was ready and fix things fast. They all believed he could do it, but now it was up to him to prove it.

“The victory at WrestleMania is not guaranteed. It’s up to you to show us. You’ve got to turn it around quickly. I think we all know he can do it—otherwise, we wouldn’t be here. But again, it’s up to him.”

Jey Uso’s path to WrestleMania 41 almost got messed up, not because of the story, but because of real backstage worries. But he worked hard and earned WWE’s trust and in the end, he proved he belonged in the main event and won the title.

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