WWE WrestleMania 41 (Saturday) is set to host a clash for the World Heavyweight Championship, featuring the reigning champion Gunther defending his title against the winner of this year’s Royal Rumble, Jey Uso. However, the trajectory of this particular match and the storyline have drawn criticism from a segment of the online fanbase.
Many fans have argued that Uso hasn’t earned his spot on the card. Addressing these concerns and the decision to feature Uso in such a significant role, Triple H spoke about it in a recent conversation with Peter Rosenberg during an interview that was uploaded to WWE’s official YouTube channel.
“Because people made it happen. Sometimes things happen organically along the way, they get you to where you want to be and Jey, through the Bloodline saga, was sort of a linchpin in that storytelling and then goes off on his own.”
He continued, “A lot of people question, once they leave The Bloodline, once they leave Roman, once they leave Heyman, are they going to be anything more than a tag team that they already were or are they going to be what they were or are they going to succeed and be anything more. You give them the opportunity to do all of those things. Jey, when he had the opportunity to do it, would click on these moments.”
Triple H underscored the pivotal role of impactful moments in the success of wrestling. “At the end of the day, a lot of times, that’s just what our business is about, it’s about moments.” He then addressed the ongoing debate regarding the prioritization of in-ring worker vs. being over.
“A lot of people think — There’s a lot of criticism about this, that it’s just the in-ring product, it’s just this, it’s just that how technically good of a wrestler you are. Make me a list of the greatest performers in this business and that list will be two thirds of people that were worse than the majority of the list of great workers that didn’t get to the top.”
Triple H highlighted his qualities that Jey resonates with the audience. Because he has these qualities, Jey has been pushed in the direction that he’s at.
“Jey has great athletic ability and the things that he does in the ring, he does well. Is he the most technical guy here, no. Is the greatest performer on the face of the earth in-ring, no. But, he has a charisma and a likability that he lets people in and they want to see him succeed. When you walk into a building with 10,000, 30,000, or 60,000 and he walks out and that whole place is doing his entrance with him and is hanging on everything he does and are hanging on his words and his moments, that’s what it takes to be a top guy. It’s about box office. Jey is proving what he said he was and that’s Main Event Jey Uso. Whether some people like that or not, there are people like Gunther who believe the in-ring is what matters. He’s either going to beat the entertainment out of Jey Uso or Jey Uso is going to survive all of that and prove that the box office is where it’s at.”
