There was a stretch when WWE rewarded Jey for organically getting over with crowds. He captured a younger audience through his Yeet sessions and moved strong merchandise numbers. Even always-online fans could admit that, if nothing else, WWE was smart to reward a wrestler for actually getting themselves over. That reward felt questionable to some at the time, but the organic momentum was real.

Over time, and especially in recent months, the situation has soured to a disturbing degree for many watching the product closely.

King of the Ring Final Setup

The Night of Champions build centers on Jey Uso in the King of the Ring finals against Oba Femi. Femi has rocketed to superstardom to the point Roman Reigns was calling him out after the main event of WrestleMania. Femi already retired Brock Lesnar, and will probably again "retire" Lesnar. He is positioned as a solo star whose character is just getting off the ground floor.

Jey, meanwhile, moved past the likes of LA Knight, Finn Bálor, and Je'Von Evans on his way to the finals. That run has come despite no meaningful character development attached to his current presentation.

A concerning possibility now is that WWE throws out a dusty finish via Lesnar and has Femi lose to Jey. It feels like a slim chance, but given how the promotion has booked both guys as of late, it is not totally impossible.

Jey's Act and In-Ring Presentation

The real kicker is that Jey has not changed anything up. It is the same criticism deservingly lobbed at someone like Cody Rhodes, except Jey is far less accomplished. He is still Yeeting and trying to come up with other catchphrases to throw on merch. Match quality, for the most part, remains erratic at best.

In internet circles, at least, Jey is just as infamous, if not more so, for his botches than Knight. Yet Knight will not get pushed by WWE despite even bigger reactions from live audiences at his peak, whereas Jey just cannot seem to stay out of the spotlight.

Bloodline Context and Missed Development

That is a shame, too, considering Jey exists in the Bloodline orbit. The Bloodline saga evolved how fans think about storytelling possibilities in the pro wrestling medium. If WWE were patient at all, Jey could have received serious character development and tweaks over a matter of months before getting back to the main event scene.

Instead, he is just there in the main event scene, and everyone has to pretend not to see the iffy matches, if not botches, while enduring the same old thing while other wrestlers get cast aside.

Booking Balance and the Femi Match

All of this is to say that there needs to be a balance. That kind of behavior toward Kingston was pathetic on WWE's part, and shameful too.

But Jey is a good embodiment of the lag around WWE booking. It is one thing for pro wrestling booking to make a mistake, identify it, and course-correct quickly. It is another to whiff, then not get the proper vibe that enables a course correction.

For whatever reason, WWE did not get the sense that Jey's act was wearing thin with crowds. It was obvious months ago, perhaps even to fans who initially loved everything about his push.

The situation is salvageable, no doubt. But WWE now sits on the cusp of a massive mistake in the Femi-Uso match. It needs to properly navigate that before going back to the drawing board with Jey. Even that reset would be an opportunity most wrestlers probably would not get mid-fizzling-out like this.

Everyone has begged for WWE to create new main event stars. It has with Uso. But there are clearly some growing pains it needs to fix now that it has established how to get Superstars there.

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