The Usos Represent the Bloodline at WWE’s ‘Day One’

Jimmy and Jey Uso kicked off an eventful show and continued to set the standard of excellence in tag team wrestling against their rivals.

The Usos defeated The New Day in the opening match of WWE’s Day 1 pay-per-view, extending their run as SmackDown tag team champions.

On a night that saw the WWE title change hands, The Usos continued to set the standard of excellence in tag team wrestling. Jimmy and Jey Uso dedicated the match to their cousin Roman Reigns, the reigning Universal Champion, who was forced to miss Day 1 after testing positive for COVID-19.

“It felt off not having the Tribal Chief around,” said Jey Uso. “This match was for him. We represented, and he’s going to be OK. He’s home resting, and maybe playing some Call of Duty. We’re going to see him back soon.”

“We opened the show, and we’re so used to seeing The Big Uce close the show,” added Jimmy Uso. “This pandemic is crazy, and all we want is for him to be safe and take care of himself.”

The 17-minute match hit its finale when Jimmy Uso popped Xavier Woods with a superkick, followed by Jey Uso hitting one of his own on Kofi Kingston. The Usos then hit the 1D, a remix of the 3D, for the finish, with Jimmy Uso pinning Kingston for the one-two-three.

This W is for #TheBloodline ☝️☝️☝️@WWEUsos start off 2022 STILL your #SmackDown Tag Team Champions! #WWEDay1 pic.twitter.com/aO5deG1FI3

— WWE (@WWE) January 2, 2022

“A hero needs a villain, and the villain needs a hero,” said Jimmy Uso. “For us, it’s the New Day. For them, it’s The Usos. When us four are in the ring, we go so hard that the rest of the show has to step their game up.”

Eternal rivals, The Usos and The New Day mesh together exceptionally well, creating magic in the ring. With such raw chemistry, it would be a highlight to see these teams run it back at WrestleMania 38.

“They are a great tag team and we love them dudes, but we really are trying to one-up each other every single night,” said Jey Uso. “That is real to us.”

The Usos kicked off an eventful show. The main event of Day 1 saw Brock Lesnar become the WWE champion for the first time since March of 2020, ending Big E’s run. Originally scheduled to headline the show against Reigns for the Universal title, Lesnar was added to the WWE title match after Reigns could no longer perform due to COVID-19. Lesnar’s win took place in a five-way match that also included Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and Kevin Owens.

The card also saw Becky Lynch retain her Raw women’s title with a victory against Liv Morgan. After a phenomenal entrance, Edge used an assist from Beth Phoenix to beat The Miz, Randy Orton and Matt Riddle defeated the Street Profits, and Drew McIntyre got the better of Madcap Moss. And for the second straight pay-per-view, The Usos–who worked a phenomenal match against Riddle and Orton at Survivor Series–seized the moment and delivered a match-of-the-night performance.

“When we get a chance to open the show, that’s an honor,” said Jimmy Uso. “That’s the thing. If you’re not the main event, you damn sure want to be the ones opening it up. We do everything we can to make it really hard for everyone to follow The Usos.”

“It don’t matter if it’s the kickoff, the main event, first match, intermission popcorn, we don’t give it a damn which match it is,” added Jey Uso. “We make sure people remember The Usos match.”

Courtesy WWE

A dozen years into their WWE run, The Usos possess a world-class presence and timing. They have an innate understanding of the psychology, the knowledge of how to react to a crowd, how to make their opponents shine, and how to make themselves shine. Every time they step in the ring, The Usos add validity to their claim that they are the absolute best tag team in the world.

“Tag team wrestling, it’s what we live for,” said Jimmy Uso. “When you hear ‘Down since Day One-ish’, we live by that code. This is real to us. We come from a family that did this. This is how we ate as kids. This is how our children eat. We’re damn proud of this, and we always, always go hard when we’re in the ring.”

The Usos put incredible passion into their craft, so much that viewers can practically feel their dedication and devotion to pro wrestling. That visceral feeling was certainly on display at Day 1 against The New Day.

“This isn’t a show to us, Uce,” said Jey Uso. “This is our lineage and our livelihood, and we want it to be our legacy.”

“We had big shoes to fill,” continued Jimmy Uso. “For a long time, that was intimidating. It took years to get to this point, but people are seeing who we really are. We have our own footprint in the sand and we’re so proud to represent the family.”

Representing The Bloodline in the absence of Reigns, The Usos’ victory was one celebrated by their whole family–and allows them to climb another step toward their goal of becoming the greatest of all-time.

“It was a sold-out show at home in the living room,” said Jey Uso. “We’re making the family proud with what we’re doing. It is very humbling to carry the torch for our family. And our goal is to be the number-one tag team to ever do this. No one can do it like us. Every other tag team can run up and get down up. We’re going to do it until the day we die.”

“Now the whole world knows us and recognizes our hard work,” said Jimmy Uso. “We’re here, and it feels good to be here. And it’s far from over.”

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.