The Bloodline Timeline Part One: No Right Hand Man Means No Tribal Chief

With the Bloodline Saga reaching it’s possible conclusion soon, it’s time to start chronicling what it all looked like to us. To do that here Tanya of the Suplexes and Shea Butter Podcast has once again lent us her talents. You can find her at @TheWitchMilitia on Twitter. Here’s her most recent work.

The date was August 23, 2020; the event: Summerslam. The tagline for the show was “You’ll never see it coming” and, remarkably, it was absolutely correct. The WWE Universal Championship was to be decided in a main event bout between then champion Braun Strowman and challenger “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Wyatt’s victory after a Sister Abigail on exposed wood in the ring was very short-lived as Roman Reigns, who had been on hiatus since WrestleMania due to Covid-19, appeared from seemingly out of nowhere to attack both men.

“I MADE YOU!!! YOU AIN’T A MONSTER UNLESS I’M HERE!!!” screamed Reigns, wearing a Wreck Everyone and Leave shirt, “YOU’RE JUST A FREAK IN A MASK!!!  YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE RESPONSIBILITY!!!”

Summerslam ended with both men left lying by Reigns, who looked and sounded different from the Big Dog we had come to know and (some of us) love. There was an edge there. An aggressiveness that he had seldom shown before. The following SmackDown, a triple threat was made for Payback, which that Sunday, between Wyatt, Strowman, and Reigns. That episode also ended with Roman Reigns sitting next to none other than Paul Heyman, the former advocate for Roman’s arch rival, Brock Lesnar.

At Payback, August 30, Reigns became Universal Champion by adding his signature to the championship contract during the match, after Strowman and Wyatt had  literally broken the ring, leading to Reigns easily pinning Strowman and handing Wyatt a SEVEN DAY TITLE REIGN. 

Finally, Reigns would explain his actions and his new partnership with Paul Heyman. Roman was now to be called the Tribal Chief and SmackDown was his island of relevancy. Paul made it clear that it was Roman who pulled him back in. It was Roman who corrupted Heyman. And it was because Roman did not get the appreciation he deserved from anyone (even his family). Fans were certainly paying attention to this new attitude.

One person seemingly not paying attention at first was Roman’s cousin, Jey Uso. Jey had been on the shows solo for a while as his tag team partner and twin brother, Jimmy Uso. was out with an injury. Of course, after Roman settled in as Universal Champion, Jey was there to greet him, happy to see him, and ready to have his back.

As fate would have it, a spot opened in the number one contender’s match for Clash of Champions. This is when I believe Roman got the idea of how to “mold” Jey Uso into a foot soldier for him. Strings were pulled and Jey won the match, making him the challenger for the Universal Championship.

This was the beginning of the psychological mind games by the Tribal Chief. He left Jey Uso alone in a tag match to fight and take all the punishment from Sheamus and King Corbin then came in hotdogging and grandstanding to win at the last minute . . . when Jey had the match won! Would smile and hug the man then glare at him behind his back. 

Jey did not take Roman lightly, however. He had a chip on his shoulder about never being the favorite in the family (Roman was always favored when they were younger)  and always having fans ask “which one are you”. He wanted to have that same respect. Jey was willing to have a fair fight to see who was the true Head of the Table at Clash of Champions.

The thing about the Tribal Chief, though, is he does not play fair. At all. He attacked Jey the last SmackDown before the match, treating him like he would any other opponent. During that match, he cheated and showed Jey no mercy, trying to get him to “acknowledge” Roman as the Tribal Chief. Jey would not.

Jey did not acknowledge Roman even when it seemed like Roman would seriously hurt him. So much so that Jimmy, injured, came out and pleaded with Roman. He had to throw in the towel on the match and even acknowledged him as the Tribal Chief to get Roman to stop. I feel this may have been a mistake. Mind you, I do not know what I would have done, I just feel like everything that happened that night is the reason the Bloodline is where they are now.

Most people would have mercy on their family after something like this but not Roman. He did not stop. In fact, he gave Jey another opportunity to become Universal Champion in a I Quit Hell in a Cell match and, if Jey did not win, he would have to acknowledge Roman and essentially do whatever he told him to do. Due to Jimmy helping Jey pull a twin magic so Jey could jump Roman, if Jey did not “fall in line” after losing, both twins, their wives, and their children would be out of the family.

In the Hell in a Cell, Roman beat Jey down mercilessly. Jimmy came out again, trying to talk some sense into his cousin. Roman cried real tears to lure Jimmy into trusting him so he could put him in a guillotine. He did this, because Jey refused to quit. It was the only way he was going to win. To add an even bigger insult, the elders crowned Roman in front of the twins after this.

That night, Roman was absolutely sure he could use the twins against each other because the bond they have will not allow one to see the other hurt. And, since the elders approved, who was going to stop him? Jey was broken from this. He acknowledged Roman but also said he hated him and that he loved him. Jey had a little spark left after that but eventually, that was gone and from that point forward, Jey thought about what the Tribal Chief would think and put his needs before his own. Jey became a direct reflection of the Tribal Chief. 

Roman still did not let up, even one time beat Jey with a chair for trying to win a match instead of tagging out to Roman. He publicly ostracized Jey more than his opponents. He kept Jey under his thumb. He did not let up. There is no other way to describe it other than abuse. He abused Jey weekly.

When Roman defended the Universal championship, his opponent had to account for Jey and attempt to neutralize him. And keep in mind, Jey was operating under the idea that if he failed-if Roman were to lose- he could lose everything he worked hard for. Jey absolutely worked harder than the Tribal Chief himself to keep that title. 

As harsh as Roman was with his treatment, he did give Jey some motivation as well, dubbing him Main Event Uso and his Right Hand Man. I think it was because he knew Jimmy would come back soon and he was playing on Jey’s need to stand out from being a twin. I know some consider the Bloodline to begin once Jimmy returned but the origin will always be Jey as Roman’s codependent right hand. It is still the reason I am so invested in this story.

Jey is the reason the Tribal Chief worked initially. If Roman could treat his own family this way, that shows a complete change from his old persona. The Tribal Chief had to be a complete 180 from the Big Dog. Jey was a sacrificial lamb, the *reason* Roman Reigns is now a big headed bastard. 

Jey Uso is also the reason the Tribal Chief had was able to ‘Smash Em, Stack Em, Pin Em” at WrestleMania. The Bloodline’s success, especially initially, does not happen without Jey Uso’s work. Without this, I have a feeling the whole “acknowledge me”, hanging out and joking around with Paul Heyman would be a bit too close to “cool heel” status. So thank God for messy family situations.

Stay tuned for Part two where I will cover more of Jimmy Uso’s role in the Bloodline as well as the group’s year long dominance