Is This Former IC Champ Being Pushed to Be the Next Tribal Chief?

Character development is key to evolving and not remaining stale in the WWE. Jey Uso has been one of the standout performers for the company in the past year and a half, and his character growth since the Bloodline story began five years ago has been a testament to the character development of the WWE and its superstars. Once, he was the “Right-Hand Man” to Roman Reigns and was just seen as a tag team champion and one of the twins with his brother, Jimmy Uso. However, now the tides have changed, and once breaking away from the Bloodline, Jey Uso has made a name for himself as a singles superstar. Uso has gone on to win the Intercontinental Championship, the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble, and the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41. His “Yeet” catchphrase has also developed into one of the WWE’s signature catchphrases that has become popular with the fans. Jey Uso has received a main event push on Monday Night Raw, but recently, fans have noticed that ever since he started taking advice from Reigns, Uso’s attitude has started to change, and that was more evident on the September 8th episode of Raw. However, if this is a new character change for Jey Uso, that begs the question: Is he being positioned to be the next Tribal Chief? Given the history between Reigns and Uso, the evidence points to that being a possibility.

On the aforementioned episode of Raw, when LA Knight inadvertently caused him to be taken down by Bronson Reed, “Main Event” Jey Uso was livid. He did not want to come to Knight’s aid to help him against the Vision later on in the night. In a backstage segment, Jey told his brother Jimmy that he was not helping him and started using some of the same language that Reigns used when he talked about his opponents. Using words such as “Smash them,” echoing the kind of ruthless aggression that the Tribal Chief has shown in the past. That same type of aggression forced Uso to leave the Bloodline, and now it seems that Reign’s influence is starting to affect the former IC Champ. Later on in the night, after his brother Jimmy went out and tried to help Knight fend off the Vision, Jey returned and helped them out, but to close the night, he ended up spearing the Megastar, while “Big Jim” just looked confused at what he had just seen.

Now, this is just the first taste of what this new change of attitude is for the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble Winner. If he continues to show these tendencies, fans will have to wonder what is next for Uso. When the Bloodline story first started, Jey was the first program that Reigns started with, and he was the first of the twins to join. Now, standing on his own two feet, Jey Uso is starting to act like his biggest influence in the WWE, Roman Reigns. The star on Jey Uso’s is shining bright now, but it could shine even brighter as the next Tribal Chief, and this could have been Roman Reigns’ plan all along. The six-time world champion started the Bloodline story so that everyone could benefit from it, and no one has benefited more than Jey Uso. Maybe we are at a time where Uso gets the spotlight, while Reigns moves on from the WWE, because what else is there for him to accomplish? Maybe it's putting Jey over and handing over the title of the Tribal Chief to his former “Right-Hand” man.