Why Jey Uso Lost to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2023

08/10/2023 10:10 am EDT

Jey Uso failed to defeat Roman Reigns in "Tribal Combat" at SummerSlam this past weekend, enabling Reigns to continue his dominant run as both "The Tribal Chief" and the Undisputed WWE Univeral Champion. Uso was seemingly on the verge of victory late in the match, only for Jimmy Uso to shockingly betray his brother. While the betrayal hasn't been well-received by fans (the booking has been described as "jumping the shark" ever since), the idea of Uso losing wasn't that big of a shock. According to Dave Meltzer, WWE officials never even discussed the idea of "Main Event Jey" becoming champion even though the match would've been the culmination of a three-year storyline.

"I'd never heard anyone (in WWE) even discuss that (Jey winning) as a possibility," Meltzer said on McGuire on Wrestling (h/t WrestlingNews.co). "Whatever it is, they've got plans going for Roman as champion for months down the line. So Jey wasn't gonna win. I know you could make the same (argument) about, well, that's why Cody and Sami shouldn't have won, but, you know, Sami was much hotter than Jey.

"And whatever they had their direction that they were gonna go in with Cody, they could've had Cody win, they could've had Cody lose. The fact is, the business stayed good, so they weren't wrong," he added.

What's Next for Roman Reigns and The Bloodline?

Where Reigns goes from here is unclear. A report broke prior to SummerSlam claiming he'd be champion until both he and Heyman could agree on who should win the gold from him. News then broke on Monday that Reigns suffered an undisclosed injury during the match, but since his in-ring schedule is so light there's a good chance it won't have any effect on WWE's booking. 

As for Jey & Jimmy, @WrestleVotes reported this week that at least one member of the WWE Creative team wants to hold off on their one-on-one match until WrestleMania 40 next April. But given how far away that is, it seems unlikely. 

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Results

• Logan Paul def. Ricochet
• Cody Rhodes def. Brock Lesnar
• LA Knight wins the SummerSlam Battle Royal
• Shayna Baszler def. Ronda Rousey (MMA Rules)
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther def. Drew McIntyre
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor
• WWE Women's Championship: Bianca Belair def. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
• WWE Women's Championship: Iyo Sky def. Bianca Belair
• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns def. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)

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