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WWE Just Dethroned One of Its Biggest Superstars, but Was It the Right Call?

One of WWE’s most popular Superstars just lost their Title on Raw

WWE Monday Night Raw

Monday Night Raw came in swinging after an eventful Money in the Bank with some big returns and the setups for even more returns next week, but it arguably saved its biggest surprise for the final moments of the episode. The main event had been locked in for a while, as it would be the big rematch between Jey Uso and Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. The seeds for a big shock had been planted by Gunther and WWE over the past two weeks, but that still didn’t keep many (including me) from thinking Jey would still be Champion by the end of the night. Imagine my surprise when that did in fact not happen, as Gunther has beaten one of WWE’s biggest superstars of the moment, and now we have to wonder whether it was the right call.

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If you’ve been tuning into WWE programming over the past few weeks, one of the running storylines revolving around Jey Uso has been how much he’s been doing lately, both in terms of defending his own Championship and involving himself in other people’s feuds. Over the past few weeks alone, we’ve seen him helping out Sami Zayn, CM Punk, and Cody Rhodes, and he even teamed with Rhodes to take on John Cena and Logan Paul at Money in the Bank.

That match is especially interesting, given that it happened this past Saturday and he had a match against Gunther a day and a half later. Gunther even brought that up during their last face-to-face, and that’s in addition to other attacks and Title defense since he took Gunther down the first time.

That all came to a head during tonight’s main event, and it was clear Gunther had learned some lessons since their last clash. Not only was Gunther taking Jey incredibly seriously as an opponent, but he was on the lookout for the move that ultimately took him down the last time. That led to a sequence where Jey speared Gunther and then tried to lock in the sleeper hold, but Gunther was ready this time, and he was able to counter it and reverse it. Instead, Gunther locked in the sleeper hold, and while Jey fought to get out of it, he wasn’t able to recover, and Gunther is now a two-time World Heavyweight Champion.

Was This a Bad Call?

So the question then becomes, was this the right call? All you have to do is watch a Jey Uso entrance to see just how incredibly over he is and continues to be. The crowds are fully invested in seeing him succeed, and they have backed his Title reign all the way through. He gets main event superstar pops wherever he goes, and it’s hard to find a bigger babyface in the men’s division at the moment aside from Cody Rhodes, so he’s in elite company.

The commentary team and Gunther did their job leading into the match by establishing that Jey has been a workhorse and has been spreading himself too thin, and that was seemingly done to protect Jey and give him an out as to why he fell to Gunther this time around. It also gives Gunther a much-needed boost and an opportunity to establish himself as one of the top heels in the company once again after a somewhat forgettable previous Title reign.

So, Jey is protected and is still a fan favorite coming out of this, and Gunther is now back at the top, but was it still the right choice? I personally think this might have been a bit too soon to shake this run up. Now, I’m likely wrong, and we see Jey move into another compelling storyline that makes all this perfectly fine, but without all that future knowledge, I think they could have let this run out just a while longer to get the most out of it. Jey’s popularity would only grow over the course of another month or even possibly two, and if you bring Gunther back after that much time has passed, it would have felt fresher to have this rematch. Plus, it would have given more time for you to tell that spread too thin story, really selling that Gunther has been waiting and biding his time to strike at the precise moment where Jey is at his weakest and most vulnerable.

Alright, so what did you think of the win and Jey’s loss, and was it the right time or the wrong time? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!