By Ron Johnson
December 15, 2019. That was the last time Roman Reigns was pinned in WWE. Since that time, this version of Reigns would be labeled as unstoppable. He would be labeled as unbeatable. He would be labeled as he puts it as GOD (Greatness On a Different Level) Mode.
That is until Saturday, July 2, 2023.
At the Money in the Bank Premium Live Event in London, Roman Reigns saw his worst nightmare come true. But before we talk about what happened last night, let’s rewind the clock to a few months ago, prior to WrestleMania to be exact. It was a one of the last verbal sparring moments between Reigns and ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes. Some of the predictions that Rhodes said that night have started to come true.
‘Jey is gonna leave you. And then Jimmy will leave you too.’
Last month at Night of Champions, Reigns along with his cousin Solo Sikoa challenged Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships. Prior to that night, Reigns had been berating and bullying his cousins into submission. This would prompt the events of Night of Champions to unfold. By the end of the night, well, this happened…
Jimmy had finally had enough of Roman’s abuse and became the equalizer that Owens and Zayn needed to secure the win and retain the titles. A few days later, Jimmy’s consequence for his actions was a Samoan Spike from his own brother Solo, leaving Jey conflicted about his own allegiance. Well that is until a few weeks ago on SmackDown.
After advising the ‘Wise Man/Special Counsel’ Paul Heyman of his conditions of rejoining the Bloodline, Jey made his decision, his choice and his allegiance known with one swift action:
This action led to quite possibly the best main event in MITB history as it was coined ‘The Bloodline Civil War.’ The match itself lived up to the hype of a five star, Hatfield-McCoy Family Feud, but it was the ending that shocked everyone, including commentator Wade Barrett, who had been touting the end of The Usos ever since The Superkick Heard Round The World. But in the end, something happened. It was something no one saw coming, something that broke the internet.
On the morning of July 2, 2023, Roman Reigns had to wake up and remember what it is like to lose.
So if you are keeping score with Cody, every prediction he made that night has almost come true: Roman had to wake up this morning and realize that he was pinned in front of a raucous crowd at the O2 Arena in London. Jey has left him emphatically. Jimmy has left him emphatically. All that remains is Solo and Heyman the Wise Man. But after last night’s events, how long before Reigns blames Solo for the loss even though it was Roman that got pinned…by shockingly enough, ‘Main Event’ Jey Uso?
The last set of predictions/spoilers that Rhodes dished was that Solo would leave him too, and Heyman would become an advocate again, leaving him a man without a family, a Roman with no reigns and a chief without a tribe. Saturday night, the self proclaimed tribal chief suffered his first true defeat in over three years. Yes, he and Solo lost their opportunity at the tag titles at Night of Champions, but the reality is this one was special for The Usos. Not only can they say they are one of the greatest tag teams to ever do it, but Jey himself can say he was the death blow in Roman’s Empire.
And if a picture is truly worth a thousand words, well…
this one speaks volumes.