Jey Uso returned to SmackDown, adding another layer to Bloodline story

WWE dedicated most of the Feb. 10 episode of SmackDown to determining where Jey Uso’s allegiances lie. Since the co-holder of the undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship walked out on The Bloodline at the end of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, fans have waited to find out what’s next for him in the ongoing saga around undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Because of Jey’s self-imposed sabbatical, fans were left to wonder whether he would join his brother to defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Braun Strowman and Ricochet, who won an underwhelming tournament to earn a title shot.

Before the match, Jimmy Uso reassured Paul Heyman that Jey wouldn’t let him down, declaring that Jey would show up. Jey ultimately proved his brother correct, as he walked to the ring from Mohegan Sun Arena bleachers a mere seconds before the opening bell rang.

Still, this offered little clarity as to whether Jey wants to remain aligned with his family, specifically the domineering “Head of the Table”.

Jey Uso helped his brother retain the tag team championship, but his feelings toward The Bloodline as a whole are much more complicated.

During the show’s opening segment, Sami Zayn confronted Paul Heyman (after Heyman ranted about Reigns having to combat the respective challenges of Zayn and men’s Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes) and alluded to the declining infrastructure of the Bloodline, citing Reigns’ deteriorating mental composure.

The fissures seemed non-existent once Jey and Jimmy faced Ricochet and Strowman. The crowd — who liked Ricochet and Strowman but were also elated to see Jey — didn’t quite know how to respond to either team, but they bought into most of the nearfalls and ultimately got to see a fun title match. The proceedings ended with Jey hitting a top-tope splash on Ricochet to score the clean pin.

All things seemed well on the “Island of Relevancy”…until Jimmy asked Jey if Jey still stood with the Bloodline and Jey responded with a simple “I don’t know” before walking away (of course, Heyman, concerned with his own place in the faction, lurked behind a pillar to eavesdrop on the twins).

Later, we saw Zayn speak to Jey for the first time since the Rumble. Zayn kept the conversation brief but made sure to remind Jey that he didn’t need to “go down” with the “sinking ship” that was Reigns’ title run before acknowledging Jey (tacitly harkening to Jey’s pair of Universal Title matches against Reigns in 2020). Most notably, their interaction ended with a fist bump that will serve as either a sign that Jey has seen the light or an omen for the turn that we all expect.

By now, every fan has an idea of how this story will play out — Zayn loses at Elimination Chamber before teaming with Kevin Owens to challenge The Usos for the tag titles at WrestleMania — but the fans have enjoyed every chapter that has led us to this point.

While this week’s additions to the narrative didn’t feature a big angle, they successfully continued to sow distrust within the bloodline while laying the groundwork for Jey potentially turning on Zayn in the short term and turns by The Usos, Solo Sikoa, and Heyman on Reigns in the months to come.

If you still don’t think this is the best storyline in wrestling, then this likely didn’t change your mind. But those who know how great this stuff has been got another example of the layered storytelling that has made this work.