Former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jey Uso has credited his 2017 Hell in a Cell Match with The New Day as preparing him for both his singles career and his 2020 main event series with Roman Reigns.
The return of ‘The Tribal Chief’ at SummerSlam 2020 not only yielded a WWE Universal Championship reign, but also the demand for respect and recognition from his bloodline as the head of the family table.
Taking exception to the demands of his cousin, Jey Uso decided to defend his family’s honour against Reigns in a main event bout at WWE Clash of Champions on September 27, 2020, and inside Hell in a Cell at the event of the same name on October 25, 2020. The latter war carried the stipulation that if Uso lost then he and his immediate family would tow the line or be exiled for good.
Since falling in the final bout to Reigns, Uso has joined his cousin and Paul Heyman in the domination of Friday Night SmackDown, becoming an integral part of the brand’s singles division and proving his worth against the likes of Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens.
Now, Jey Uso has sat down with Sportskeeda to talk about his singles and main event career, crediting his 2017 Hell in a Cell Match with The New Day for preparing him for such a momentous run:
“I really had fun with the New Day. There’s some matches where, you know, you be kind of stressed out and like, ‘man, like I hope I do good’ type stuff. But then there’s matches, when you’re in there, you’re literally having fun. Like you forget I’m wrestling. So with those guys, it was the first time the tag titles have ever been defended inside Hell in a Cell.
And then I’m in there with my cousin, Roman Reigns, at Hell in a Cell in singles competition and, you know, the New Day prepared me for that. My brother prepared me for that. You know, I’m real bummed out my brother went down, but then it was a blessing in disguise Uce. I just went to work, you know, I put in the work and I ain’t stopped since. I ran through the big… tried to run through the Big Dog and people got with me man. So I just took off from there…AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, again and again and again. And I’m going to do it this Friday in the steel cage match, I found out that I got on Talking Smack cause DB [Daniel Bryan] was on there talking that smack to the councilman. Now I got to put him down Uce, now I got to get him.”
On the March 5 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Jey Uso lost to Daniel Bryan inside a Steel Cage which, by the stipulation of the match, sent the former WWE Champion to Fastlane to face Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship.
Credit for the interview: Sportskeeda
h/t for the transcription: Fightful