...okay, it's possible we owe the Bloodline story an apology.
In our defense, we didn't see a way out for this storyline after SummerSlam. Some combination of the following things had clearly happened: Jimmy Uso had turned heel, Jimmy Uso had started a feud with his brother Jey, Jimmy Uso had re-joined The Bloodline. There was no universe in which none of those things had happened, was there?
Well, it turns out there was. At least, that's how it looks right now. "SmackDown" began with Roman Reigns arriving in Calgary and demanding to be acknowledged, as usual. Then he asked Paul Heyman where Jimmy was. He, like the rest of us, assumed Jimmy was coming back to the fold. Heyman said he hadn't seen Jimmy, and the one time he had talked to him on the phone, Jimmy had been hostile. When Jimmy arrived, Roman did the "winner of the Game of Thrones" thing he does so well, offering Jimmy anything he could possibly want in return for his help. But Jimmy wasn't helping Roman. He was helping Jey.
Jey came out to demand an explanation. He, like the rest of us, assumed Jimmy did what he did out of jealousy. But Jimmy wasn't jealous. He was worried for his brother, because you don't just become the undisputed world champion, you don't just become the Tribal Chief, without suffering the consequences. "Power corrupts" has been a major theme of the Bloodline story for a long time, and this plays directly into that theme. They have directly foreshadowed this exact plot point several times, to the point that a month ago, we thought there was a chance WWE might actually go with our idea of having Jey clearly being about to beat Roman, but to stop himself and lose the match intentionally, because he doesn't want to become what Roman became. We said they would never do it. They basically did it. The only difference is that instead of Jey realizing what he was doing and stopping himself, Jimmy realized it, and stopped him. Remember, the Tribal Combat match only happened because of what Roman did to Jimmy. If Jey had won the Tribal Chiefdom and the championship and started down a path of corruption (which, by the way, would absolutely have been our pitch for his next character arc if he had won) he would have been corrupted because of Jimmy. Jimmy couldn't let that happen.
It makes logical sense. It makes narrative sense. It makes thematic sense. In spite of everything, it turned out to be one of the right ways to move to the next chapter. And yes, we're as surprised as you are that our fingers are typing those words.
And then, the aftermath, which was almost as good. Because the thing we had already started to wonder as Jimmy spoke was "well, where the hell do we go from here?" Jey doesn't just instantly forgive his brother; that would be contrived and unrealistic. But when Jimmy leaves the ring, Roman starts gloating, starts manipulating, the way he always does, and Jey — in a move that demonstrates his character growth more than any promo could — is done listening to it. He superkicks him. He dodges an attack from Solo, superkicks him. Then he superkicks Roman again to counter the spear, then spears Roman himself. Dominant. Confident. A different Jey Uso.
Then Jey calls Jimmy back toward the ring. Jimmy, naturally, comes in for a hug — but Jey superkicks him, too. And why the hell not? Jimmy might have had good reasons for what he did, but he still cost Jey the match of his life, his chance to dethrone Roman, and then superkicked him. There was a reason we all thought Jimmy had turned heel, after all. And Jey? Jey is done with this. Done with the drama, done with the manipulation, done with the Bloodline, done with his family. He's leaving. And who can blame him? What else does he have left to prove?
Man, it was weird hating the Bloodline story for six days. We're glad that's over. When Jey eventually comes back, it'll be epic, but we hope that's not for a while. In the meantime ... we can't wait for next week.
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