There are few things that are considered a universal truth in the fickle world of professional wrestling fandom.

The unequaled greatness of the Bloodline story in WWE should be counted among them.

The debate is over. There is too much overriding evidence that proves it’s the most layered, long-term storytelling we’ve seen on WWE television ever.

Dating back to August 2020, when Roman Reigns started the Bloodline along with Jey Uso and Paul Heyman, we had no idea we were in the infancy of a story that would play out to its present state.

Spending this article rehashing all the twists and turns of the past couple of years would be tiresome, but the overarching brilliance of this story can be boiled down to one essential moment–Jey’s defection from the Bloodline to join his brother Jimmy.

Although the rabid crowd reaction and subsequent ratings proved the segment was a hit, I looked no further than to my wife for validation of its success.

I use my wife’s reactions as a barometer to whether a casual fan may find something interesting. My wife isn’t a wrestling fan, but she joined me for this segment. Not only did she hang onto every word of Jey’s promo, but she excitedly pointed her finger to the sky as the Usos did their signature pose to close the show.

Her reaction was all the confirmation I needed to know that I had just seen greatness.

But this was just one angle in a sea of many that have proven week in and week out that we’re seeing one of the great storylines in professional wrestling history.

When I think about great longterm wrestling stories I take the following factors into consideration.

  • Engaging performers
  • A believable conflict
  • Consistently great matches with callbacks to previous moments
  • Excellent mic work
  • A variety of segments that advance the story in a logical progression on a weekly basis

The Bloodline story has all these bases covered.

And Jey is at the center of everything. While all the key players–Reigns, Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso, Heyman, Sami Zayn, Cody Rhodes, and Kevin Owens–have benefited greatly, Jey’s star has shown brighter than all.

Jey’s success, in particular, has been a revelation. He’s shown a range as a talker and complete performer that I never knew existed.

WWE’s Money in the Bank saw Jey achieve his biggest WWE win to date when he became the first man to pin Reigns’ shoulders to the mat in 3 ½ years. You couldn’t write a better next chapter to this story even if you had Steven Spielberg in the writer’s room.

The more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense for Jey to be the one to deliver Reigns his first pinfall loss. He’s been the spark that’s made all of this work. While Rhodes and Zayn could’ve been the first to accomplish this feat, it’s not like WWE’s business suffered as a result. If anything, their business has only gotten stronger.

All roads appear to lead to Jey vs. Reigns at WWE SummerSlam. If you would’ve told me a year ago that this would be the SummerSlam main event then I wouldn’t have believed you, but it goes to show how much things can change when you have a competent creative direction.

Do I expect Jey to win the title? Probably not. But regardless of what happens, Jey’s name will forever be etched in history.

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