The Bloodline Timeline Part 2: My Brother’s Keeper

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. Check out Part 1 here.

Coming out of WrestleMania 37, the Tribal Chief was riding on a high. He had Jey Uso in the palm of his hand, ready to do anything asked of him. He had successfully defended the Universal Championship thanks to the Right Hand Man. This was brought up as a point of contention against Roman several times as his opponents would often try to talk some sense into Jey. Of course, those words fell on deaf ears. The hold Roman had over Jey was strong and he proved his devotion countless times. That hold was about to be tested.

Jimmy Uso made his SmackDown return on May 7, 2021. He was introduced by Roman as “someone who will acknowledge me”. The Usos had not been seen together since Roman dressed down Jey after Survivor Series and kicked them both out of the arena. The greeting was warm but you could tell there was tension due to Roman’s past actions. 

Jimmy wanted to continue where he and his brother left off in pursuit of becoming the greatest tag team in WWE history. Being a tag team is the most important thing in Jimmy Uso’s career. As the slightly older brother, he has always felt he had a duty to protect Jey. He also never wanted to split from Jey as their connection as twins grounds who he is. The problem with that, in Roman’s mind, is being in a tag team was “beneath” Jey and would be going backwards. 

After costing the Usos a chance at the tag team championships, the tension between Roman and Jimmy was clear. Jey was stuck in the middle. Jey clearly wanted everyone to get along. He wanted to pursue the SmackDown tag team championship with Jimmy while also watching out for Roman as their Tribal Chief. But Jimmy was not going to put up with Roman’s treatment. He wanted Jey to go against Roman. Jey refused, as he did not wish to be disowned. Jimmy’s spirit is more rebellious. I do not feel he ever cared about being disowned by the elders.

After Roman intentionally cost the Usos an opportunity at becoming number one contenders for the tag team championship, Jimmy called out the entire situation. He still felt some way about what Roman had done to him in the Hell in a Cell and could not understand why Jey was continuing to not stand up for himself, even turning his frustration into a catchphrase “Nobody’s Bitch” which he put on a shirt.

At the time, I was very critical of the way Jimmy handled this. Jey is a victim of severe mental and physical abuse and his very livelihood is at stake if he were to cross Roman. I feel like I have to beat this topic like a dead horse at times because everyone, including Jey’s twin brother, has put some of the blame for Roman’s treatment of Jey on Jey himself and I do not think it is fair. Anyone who has dealt with someone in Jey’s position will tell you the last thing you should do is antagonize the victim.

But the pattern persisted for weeks, with the low point of it all being when Roman “accidentally” called Jey by Jimmy’s name and, after he was corrected, asked “Does it even matter?”

Now, in Jimmy’s defense, he has had to deal with some version of this same type of behavior in smaller ways all his life with Roman. And, in the past, the aggression probably worked and there would be tears, apologies, and reconciliation. I think the difference between their childhood and now is the mind games Roman is able to play because of the position he is within WWE, which is something the elders in the family praise above anything else.

Because Roman Reigns is the Tribal Chief, Jey was stuck in the middle of what his brother wanted and what Roman demanded. He did not know what to do. So he walked out on both of them. Being the gaslighting manipulator he is, Roman immediately blamed Jimmy. He successfully got Jimmy to think HE was being the selfish one. So Jimmy reluctantly fell in line so he could get his brother back.

Seeing that separating the twins was going to be more trouble than it was worth led Roman to use Jey’s loyalty to get Jimmy to fall in line. And then he got the Usos to believe their success as a tag team was a direct reflection of himself as the Tribal Chief. They could be together, Roman Reigns and the Usos, as a team, the Bloodline, but only if they do it the Tribal Chief’s way. Instead of just Jey doing his bidding, he now had Jimmy as well. All three now would do whatever it took to be on top.

Money in the Bank 2021 saw the Usos become 7 time WWE tag team champions, under the SmackDown banner. Once champions, the Usos found themselves pulling double duty most nights; fending off would be challengers as well as taking lumps and bumps against Roman’s opponents. When Brock Lesnar returned after Reigns defeated John Cena at Summerslam, the Usos became fodder for the Beast Incarnate. They would routinely get attacked while Roman looked on, refusing to take any damage himself.

During that period of time, the Usos were on one accord with Roman. However, it appeared as if the Special Counsel to the Chief, Paul Heyman, was double dipping between Roman and his former client, Brock. So much so that Roman unceremoniously fired Heyman, who then returned to Brock’s side. This was revealed to be a long con at the 2022 Royal Rumble when Reigns helped Bobby Lashley defeat Brock for the WWE Championship, after Heyman handed Reigns the title to blast Brock with.

This eventually led to a title versus title Unification Match at WrestleMania 38 between Lesnar (who had regained the WWE Championship) and Reigns. Once Reigns unified the top titles in the company, the agenda moved to unifying the tag titles. The Usos had become the workhorses of the Bloodline as the Tribal Chief took more and more time off. They were the ones working every week, often on RAW and SmackDown. They defeated Team RKBro on the May 20, 2022 episode of SmackDown with an assist from the Tribal Chief, one of the few times he ever helped his cousins. 

I refer to this period where the abuse seemingly ended for Jey, and a lesser degree Jimmy, as the “lovebombing period”. The Usos were at the top of their game. They were mostly winning every match and did win every match that mattered, while also watching Roman’s back. Any issue he may have had with them was small in comparison to the outsiders (mainly Brock Lesnar) that were challenging his position in the company. 

It only seemed like Roman was “taking it easy” on the Usos. When the reality was he did not have time to focus on abuse and manipulation and the Usos were doing everything right in his eyes. At a certain point, I believe the Usos began to enjoy the power that rolling with Roman on that level afforded them, particularly when they embarrassed their long time rival, Xavier Woods, and fought over who was going to put X’s King of the Ring crown on Roman’s head after a beatdown. I will never forget their little tussle for it before both agreeing to crown him together.

Jimmy swallowed his pride from any hard feelings he may have had and followed his brother in serving the Tribal Chief. As his reward, he got to be the Unified Tag Team Champions with his brother and wreak havoc on the WWE locker room. However, there was always this unspoken rule that the Usos HAD to keep those titles or endure the Tribal Chief’s wrath. As long as everyone kept winning, the Bloodline should face no issues, right?

Well, a certain someone had been observing the Bloodline. This person was very aware of the dynamic of the group and sought to find a way to get close to them. For Jimmy Uso, his loyalty and obligation to his twin brother would always remain solid. The only reason he ever acknowledged Roman as the Tribal Chief and served under him was for Jey.

The Bloodline was at their peak as a cohesive unit in the summer of 2022 when they buried Brock Lesnar under a pile of rubble. 

Stay tuned for the next article, detailing the arrival of Solo Sikoa as well as the Honorary Uce Sami Zayn!!!